I have mixed views coming out of this one. "Napoleon" was my most-anticipated film of the year. Ridley Scott has indeed produced a superb spectacle here. The cinematography is absolute class, and writer David Scarpa deserves credit, along with Scott, for managing to fit so much into a relatively short runtime, considering the film is covering events from the mid-1790s right up to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The narrative, historically speaking, is decent.
The battle scenes, of course, are tremendous. The Battle of Waterloo is absolutely breath-taking, gorgeous and terrifying. Phoenix is incredible as Napoleon. Unfortunately, the tactician that Napoleon was plays second fiddle in this film to his love of Josephine and his turbulent relationship with her. Far too much time is devoted to it and it becomes very monotonous, and I felt it brought the film down a bit. But overall, I appreciated Phoenix's portrayal of Napoleon, and the battle scenes are worth the price of admission alone.
The battle scenes, of course, are tremendous. The Battle of Waterloo is absolutely breath-taking, gorgeous and terrifying. Phoenix is incredible as Napoleon. Unfortunately, the tactician that Napoleon was plays second fiddle in this film to his love of Josephine and his turbulent relationship with her. Far too much time is devoted to it and it becomes very monotonous, and I felt it brought the film down a bit. But overall, I appreciated Phoenix's portrayal of Napoleon, and the battle scenes are worth the price of admission alone.