Post by flan_man on May 19, 2005 14:29:34 GMT -5
Absolutely horrible. I can't put it in another way. There are so many things that totally ruined this movie for me.
The dialogues are one thing. They really go down the drain at times. Even Orlando Bloom doesn't know what to do with them, so he just pulls a sad, burdened face and hopes for the best. Russell Crowe pulled the same face in Gladiator, but at least he had some really interesting dialogue to go through. Maybe it also has something to do with Bloom's lack of experience when it comes to parts like this one, but I'll leave that to the experts.
The characterisation is another thing. Again, if you compare with Gladiator, Maximus was a character that you could familiarise with and feel empathy for. It just didn't work with the character that Bloom was supposed to portray. His ethics are all screwed up. He supposedly goes by this ethical code that he proclaims to live by, but if that really is the case then some of his actions really are unforgiveable and what's even worse: hard to understand.
Another complaint I have with many of the characters is that there is little or no background information, and they appear out of nowhere. It's as if they are just dropped in the story. I swear that when Liam Neeson introduced himself to Bloom, I heard the line "Luke, I am your father". But as opposed to Star Wars' solid part before getting to this scene, Kingdom of Heaven almost immediately throws it into your face.
The only saving grace for me was the solid acting from veterans like Jeremy Irons and Edward Norton, and the gorgeous settings of course.
Gladiator was excellent, but stuff like Troy, King Arthur and this Kingdom of Heaven just ruins everything.
The dialogues are one thing. They really go down the drain at times. Even Orlando Bloom doesn't know what to do with them, so he just pulls a sad, burdened face and hopes for the best. Russell Crowe pulled the same face in Gladiator, but at least he had some really interesting dialogue to go through. Maybe it also has something to do with Bloom's lack of experience when it comes to parts like this one, but I'll leave that to the experts.
The characterisation is another thing. Again, if you compare with Gladiator, Maximus was a character that you could familiarise with and feel empathy for. It just didn't work with the character that Bloom was supposed to portray. His ethics are all screwed up. He supposedly goes by this ethical code that he proclaims to live by, but if that really is the case then some of his actions really are unforgiveable and what's even worse: hard to understand.
Another complaint I have with many of the characters is that there is little or no background information, and they appear out of nowhere. It's as if they are just dropped in the story. I swear that when Liam Neeson introduced himself to Bloom, I heard the line "Luke, I am your father". But as opposed to Star Wars' solid part before getting to this scene, Kingdom of Heaven almost immediately throws it into your face.
The only saving grace for me was the solid acting from veterans like Jeremy Irons and Edward Norton, and the gorgeous settings of course.
Gladiator was excellent, but stuff like Troy, King Arthur and this Kingdom of Heaven just ruins everything.
