Pity poor Mila Jovovich. The idea was great. An epic retelling of the legend of Joan of Arc, feminist "Braveheart" as seen through the eyes of France's answer to John Woo. Hey, I was on the edge of my seat to see it.
Then I saw it. OK, maybe I don't know that much about the real Jeanne d'Arc (director Luc Besson should know it better than me) but I was never aware that she was a raving lunatic who savored the taste of blood, breathed in heavy gusts, and couldn't say a complete sentence without pausing for dramatic effect. It's true, most foreign directors are great visionaries but when they are working with actors that don't speak the same language as them, something gets emotionally lost in the translation.
That doesn't apply to the battle scenes though. After all, this is the director who gave us The Fifth Element and (more importantly) The Professional. I can't say too much about them, however, I refuse to give away any of the shocks involved.
This film was missing two things: 1) Jean Reno, Luc Besson's ever-present actor/sidekick (their relationship mirrors that of John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat), and 2) Gary Oldman. OK, I liked John Malkovich's performance as the Duphine of France but he seemed too 90s. In fact there were a few comic moments in this film that were so modern that I almost was expecting Adam Sandler to walk in as Opera Man and have him sing an announcement to the King of France.
That leaves Dustin Hoffman for last...which is exactly what he is...last. Trailers lead you to believe that Hoffman is one of the stars. Honestly he doesn't arrive until 120 minutes into this 155 minute film (much like Brando in Apocalypse Now) and then he relegated to hiding under a hood and beard to urge Joan back to reality just in time for her imminent execution. What a nice guy.
I have a suggestion for great foreign directors who want to make American films: either hire another director like Scorcese or Coppola who KNOWS how to pull a performance out of an actor and stick to doing the action scenes and designing the look of the film OR hire actors that are so good they don't NEED direction. Don't get me wrong Luc, I love ya, but Jovovich is a model...NOT an actress (and especially not a LEAD actress who can carry an epic of this magnitude).
Maybe its good they divorced. NEXT!
Then I saw it. OK, maybe I don't know that much about the real Jeanne d'Arc (director Luc Besson should know it better than me) but I was never aware that she was a raving lunatic who savored the taste of blood, breathed in heavy gusts, and couldn't say a complete sentence without pausing for dramatic effect. It's true, most foreign directors are great visionaries but when they are working with actors that don't speak the same language as them, something gets emotionally lost in the translation.
That doesn't apply to the battle scenes though. After all, this is the director who gave us The Fifth Element and (more importantly) The Professional. I can't say too much about them, however, I refuse to give away any of the shocks involved.
This film was missing two things: 1) Jean Reno, Luc Besson's ever-present actor/sidekick (their relationship mirrors that of John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat), and 2) Gary Oldman. OK, I liked John Malkovich's performance as the Duphine of France but he seemed too 90s. In fact there were a few comic moments in this film that were so modern that I almost was expecting Adam Sandler to walk in as Opera Man and have him sing an announcement to the King of France.
That leaves Dustin Hoffman for last...which is exactly what he is...last. Trailers lead you to believe that Hoffman is one of the stars. Honestly he doesn't arrive until 120 minutes into this 155 minute film (much like Brando in Apocalypse Now) and then he relegated to hiding under a hood and beard to urge Joan back to reality just in time for her imminent execution. What a nice guy.
I have a suggestion for great foreign directors who want to make American films: either hire another director like Scorcese or Coppola who KNOWS how to pull a performance out of an actor and stick to doing the action scenes and designing the look of the film OR hire actors that are so good they don't NEED direction. Don't get me wrong Luc, I love ya, but Jovovich is a model...NOT an actress (and especially not a LEAD actress who can carry an epic of this magnitude).
Maybe its good they divorced. NEXT!