Movie Review

Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of Heaven ranks as the first big disappointment of the summer season. Those who are into this genre will want to like it, but I think that even they will feel short-changed by the experience. Others will be uniformly displeased that the movie is nowhere near as rousing or eye-popping as the trailers promised.

Orlando Bloom is the hero of this tale, a small village blacksmith who has just lost wife and child. Liam Neeson comes to the shop one day. He tells the blacksmith that he is his father (how he knows and why he only comes back after many years, I have no idea). Liam is also a knight for the Holy King of Jerusalem, and he wishes to train his son in the ways of courage, honor, and combat. There's no reason given for this setup, as it just randomly happens.

Liam's character dies soon enough and it is up to Orlando's now-Knight to do the right thing in the name of the Holy Land. The rest of the movie carries on this story, with all the political intrigue and warlike bravado the script can muster. Muslims attack, but they are not entirely bad. Christians defend, but they have their flaws too. This movie is very "objective" - perfect for our kinder, gentler age when nobody wants to offend anyone. I keep hearing about supposed parallels between this film and our current time, and I didn't notice anything at all (even with the modern Crusade War on terrorism). This movie did not have much to say beyond "Hey, maybe Christians and Muslims CAN get along...after they slaughter each other over nothing." Sure, peace is possible...but war is entertaining.

But even war isn't that entertaining in Kingdom of Heaven. The battle scenes, as I could have predicted, have no crunch to them whatsoever. Recently in my xXx: State of the Union review, I stated that barely any directors know how to stage truly great action sequences; Ridley Scott is no exception. Sure, he's made a name with these big-budget extravaganzas, but here he misses the mark big time. For all his experience and acclaim, Scott can't inject any sense of presence or energy into these allegedly epic battle scenes. This sense of lacking is mirrored in the story and dialogue as well; there's just no meat. This film has one of those giant Hollywood voids running throughout its running time; I kept waiting for that one sequence that would make my blood rush and it never came. Religious war has seldom felt so stale.

For a movie with religion at the center of its story, philosophical and theological ideas are sure in short supply. There is no discussion of the tenets of either Christianity or Islam. The Courage and Valor themes that apply to Bloom's character are staples of any knight movie (or Gladiator movie, for that matter); the Crusade element does not really affect that message. There is also no sense of the history of the Crusades and the Holy Land; we simply are dropped off at a point in the timeline and stay there until the story ends. There is no imagination or sense of cohesiveness in all these film threads.

On a contrasting note, the production values of this film are absolutely fantastic. The behind-the-scenes folks really did their jobs, and it shows. The costumes, sets, and locations are very elegant and provide an expensive-looking backdrop. The cinematographer is all about flowing garments and picturesque backdrops. This beautifully polished look is the best thing about the movie.

That said, there is something wrong when I have to take notice of the peripheral elements; story and character should always be the components that occupy my attention first. I was latching onto the production design because I had to; there was nothing else in this movie to which I could respond to. I hate to decry such a noble effort on the part of so many talented people, but the plain truth is that Kingdom of Heaven is an unsatisfying motion picture.

Scott's Grade: C

A	15.1%
B	59.2%
C	24.5%
D	1.2%
F	0.0%