Kingdom Of Heaven - A Review

[David Meek]

Kingdom Of Heaven - released May 6th, 2005
Studio: Scott Free Productions/20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 145 minutes

Director:
Ridley Scott - (Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down)

Writer:
William Monahan - (Jurassic Park IV)

Cast:
Orlando Bloom - (Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Black Hawk Down, Pirates Of The Caribbean) as Balian of Ibelin
Liam Neeson - (Schindler's List, Rob Roy, K-19 The Widowmaker, Kinsey) as Godfrey of Ibelin
Eva Green - (The Dreamers) as Sibylla
Jeremy Irons - (The Mission, Kafka, Die Hard 3, The Man In The Iron Mask) as Tiberius
Edward Norton - (American History X, Fight Club, Red Dragon, The Italian Job) as King Baldwin
David Thewlis - (The Big Lebowski, Timeline, Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban) as the Hospitaller
Ghassan Massound - (his first role) as Saladin

Based on events during the Second Crusade leading up to and concerning the siege of Jerusalem, Kingdom Of Heaven has the look and feel of several of Ridley Scott's earlier works - beautiful imagery, a "stateliness" to the movement of the story and the occasional small touch that is remembered later.

I've got to get one opinion out on the table right away: A lot has been made in some quarters of supposedly trying to make this a politically correct look at the crusades. That is crap and should be discounted as such. The story - at least, what I took from it and from what I learned from reading and various history courses - shows people for what they are. Good. Bad. Religious zealots. Religiously indifferent. Makers of events. People caught up in happenings out of their control. Strong. Weak. All in all I felt it was a balanced and believably even-handed presentation.

Balian, a blacksmith that has fallen on hard times, is approached by a knight to come to Jerusalem to assist him. It comes to light that the knight is Godfrey, Balian’s father (out of wedlock). Once in Jerusalem he sees first-hand the corruption and baseness of some of the knights involved there. The Christian King Baldwin is dying of leprosy and the growing internal political and religious struggles are threatening to destroy the delicate peace maintained between the king and Saladin, the Muslim leader.

Orlando Bloom surprised me with his ability to carry a leading role. I was expecting a reprisal of his character from the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and couldn’t have been more wrong. He was taciturn and dark, almost angry, but at the same time balancing his fatalism with a deep streak of responsibility to those around him. Surrounded with an excellent supporting cast like Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, Edward Norton and others, Bloom rose to the occasion. Overall the acting from all parties was extremely good. There was a sense of balance and congruence between the various characters. I do wish there had been more of a focus on the character of Saladin played very well by newcomer Ghassan Massound. There was a lot of room to expand on his role in the story. Oh well, maybe next time. There were a couple of small plot holes that surfaced after the movie was finished but they were not obvious and didn’t detract from the overall presentation of the film.

Visually, this is vintage Ridley Scott. Beautiful photography overall, whether it is the epic scenes of the siege of Jerusalem – complete with giant mangonels and trebuchets hurling rocks and flaming bundles, huge armies storming the walls – or a quiet moment as Balian stands in a doorway. Detail on the sets and captured in the filming is magnificent. Colors are natural with little filtering although some is noticeable in occasional interior shots. One thing I noticed in several interior scenes was that they were composed with very dark zones side by side with zones of very bright light. It struck me as symbolic of the dichotomy between the religious basis for the Christians’ and the Muslims’ overall lives, and the darkness of some that only wanted war and bloodshed. Shot in Super35, the 2.35:1 aspect ratio gives you a good sense of the sprawling landscape, the vastness of the desert and the great armies that fought across it. Pacing also is typical Scott - moments of majestic stateliness interspersed with frantic moments of action - all leading towards a grand climax.

Audio-wise, this is a fairly straightforward soundtrack. There is good use of the surrounds with ambient noise used to put the viewer right in the middle of a storm at sea, and in the town square. The battle scenes – especially where the trebuchets and siege towers come into play – have lots of low bass and surround directionality. Dialog is generally quite clean and understandable. All in all, with some care this could easily be a reference DVD ala Gladiator.

If you couldn’t tell, I very much enjoyed Kingdom Of Heaven. I’ll be catching it again before it leaves the theater, just to enjoy the sweep and spectacle of a story well told, well filmed and well acted.

:4: out of :5:

[George Bellefontaine]

Thanks, Tex. I'll be awaiting the dvd release and it will then go into my collection. Nice to see something positive about this Ridley Scott film, but maybe I've only seen the negative stuff.

[George Bellefontaine]

Well I waited until this became available as a Previously Viewed disc at Blockbuster and bought it. Glad I did. I know that some here weren't all that happy with it, but I have to say I really enjoyed it and will watch it many times again. And as for Orlando, who never really impressed me, I really feel differently here and felt he did a fairly good job. But mostly I was floored by the visuals, something you can always count on when watching something by Ridley . Quite a few features on the second disc. Already watched the 1 1/2 hour making of and find it very interesting. Will watch other features later.

Man, that battle for Jerusalem really had me sitting at the edge of my seat. My audio setup was working overtime, too. :T

[Marzen]

This one goes on my (very) short list of best movies of this year. Stunning visual cinematography, interesting characters & plot, and great sound! Possibly the only movie I've seen where the making of the film was as interesting as the film itself.

[David Meek]

George, I'm glad you liked it. We're still in the minority though.

Marzen, it's on my short list too. :T

[Burke Strickland]

Well, David, you can add my name to the list of people who enjoyed the movie. I appreciate your detailed review even more as reasonable appraisal of its merits having now seen the movie, and am certainly glad I was not dissuaded from watching it from reading the glib two or three sentence dismissals I've seen elsewhere. I agree that the story is interesting and well presented under Ridley Scott's direction with outstanding production values and engaging acting.

I felt that Orlando Bloom did a fine job portraying the lead character who rose from humble beginnings to perform unexpectecly heroic deeds in a low-key, but effective way. I just wonder what those who say they didn't like his performance were looking for -- Bruce Willis wise-cracking his way through the battles and the romantic scenes? Sylvester Stallone single handedly mowing down the opposing army Rambo-style? The "Governator" telling the Saracens that he'd "be baaack"? Those kinds of performances have their place, but thankfully, not in this movie.

Since I did not go to the trouble to write a full length review, I am not going to make the presumption that I have the right or that anyone would care how many stars I "give" this movie. However, I will say I am glad the DVD is now in my collection and I do plan to watch it again more than once.

Burke