Post by munkholt on May 5, 2005 12:54:21 GMT
The connection to FMry is a slim one, but Kingdom of Heaven does have Knights Templar en masse. Unfortunately they are only used as a bunch of over-the-top nutcases. There's an arrogant Frenchman called "Guy" (how perfect is that), and Brendan Gleeson is the foppish degenerate killer. And one of the best Danish actors around, Ulrich Thomsen, makes a fool of himself wearing a stupid hat and shouting "it is the will of God!" at regular intervals. Lame.
The message is that the Kingdom of Heaven is one where religions co-exists in peace, and that every religion has its fanatics, which is fine but also smack of hollow PC since it is never really treated seriously.
It's a strange film in that Ridley Scott, whatever else you might think of his movies, has always been very thorough and professional. But this story is just a mess. Secondary characters (generally more interesting than the main) seem to appear and disappear for no good reason. The hero (Balian, played by Orlando Bloom) has no arc: he starts out on a religious quest, but once his father (Liam Neeson) tells him how to be the perfect knight (early on), he never strays from that path. Queen Sibylla predicts that he will have to do a small act of evil for the greater good. But no such conflicts arise - he just remains pure all the way through. Finally, the lack of characters to sympathise with makes the battles quite dull.
The first half of the movie works best, with great performances from Neeson, David Thewlis and Edward Norton (as the leper king). The fights are also more exciting here.
OO (out of 5)
The message is that the Kingdom of Heaven is one where religions co-exists in peace, and that every religion has its fanatics, which is fine but also smack of hollow PC since it is never really treated seriously.
It's a strange film in that Ridley Scott, whatever else you might think of his movies, has always been very thorough and professional. But this story is just a mess. Secondary characters (generally more interesting than the main) seem to appear and disappear for no good reason. The hero (Balian, played by Orlando Bloom) has no arc: he starts out on a religious quest, but once his father (Liam Neeson) tells him how to be the perfect knight (early on), he never strays from that path. Queen Sibylla predicts that he will have to do a small act of evil for the greater good. But no such conflicts arise - he just remains pure all the way through. Finally, the lack of characters to sympathise with makes the battles quite dull.
The first half of the movie works best, with great performances from Neeson, David Thewlis and Edward Norton (as the leper king). The fights are also more exciting here.
OO (out of 5)