Hey look I love Ridley Scott and Phoenix, but despite my appetite to make fun of the French people Napoleon is my favorite historical figure so this was my dream movie. But unfortunately it came and went. I want to give this movie 2 stars but I have to give credit where credit is due.
That credit is in the cinematography: Scott's ability to direct epics is still incredible, and the production value for this movie is incredible. But that's about it. The acting was good but a little disappointing.
The movie sins come about the portrayal of Napoleon. It feels like English propaganda again the way Napoleon is portrayed as an angry cuck rather than who he really is. They might as well have made him four feet tall. The difference between this and other movies with questionable historical fact-checking is the message. The Patriot, Braveheart and Scott's own Gladiator all had notable historical inaccuracies, but those were forgiven because each of those movies was still able to capture the spirit of their subject. The Patriot was still an inspiring patriotic film that captured the feelings of Americans during their war for independence; Braveheart still captured who William Wallace was and what he meant to Scotland; and while Gladiator's tale was completely fictitious the real life characters used in the movie were still portrayed accurately. That can't be said for Napoleon. It didn't capture the spirit of the French Revolution, the intensity of the Napoleonic Wars, or Napoleon himself.
That credit is in the cinematography: Scott's ability to direct epics is still incredible, and the production value for this movie is incredible. But that's about it. The acting was good but a little disappointing.
The movie sins come about the portrayal of Napoleon. It feels like English propaganda again the way Napoleon is portrayed as an angry cuck rather than who he really is. They might as well have made him four feet tall. The difference between this and other movies with questionable historical fact-checking is the message. The Patriot, Braveheart and Scott's own Gladiator all had notable historical inaccuracies, but those were forgiven because each of those movies was still able to capture the spirit of their subject. The Patriot was still an inspiring patriotic film that captured the feelings of Americans during their war for independence; Braveheart still captured who William Wallace was and what he meant to Scotland; and while Gladiator's tale was completely fictitious the real life characters used in the movie were still portrayed accurately. That can't be said for Napoleon. It didn't capture the spirit of the French Revolution, the intensity of the Napoleonic Wars, or Napoleon himself.