PREMIERE.COM'S REVIEW (posted 5/05/05)


Has Orlando Bloom become for elaborate costume pageants what Nicolas Cage so recently represented to Jerry Bruckheimer action-fests, the go-to guy no blockbuster battle epic can do without? First it was the Lord of the Rings trilogy, next the Pirates of the Caribbean series, then Troy, now this, Kingdom of Heaven, a bombastic Crusades-era taking-of-Jersualem saga in desperate need of a strong male lead. What do the ladies see in Orlando Bloom, and what is he doing ruining all our action movies? Director Ridley Scott and his British-born star collaborated once before on Black Hawk Down (an intense military operation in which Scott seemed determined not to cast any American actors), but what makes him think Bloom can carry a movie like this single-handedly?

Kingdom of Heaven is, without question, Scott's most ambitious undertaking to date, a spectacle that would make even David Lean or Cecil B. DeMille envious. The level of detail leaves you awestruck, while the story is far easier to follow than Oliver Stone's dreadful Alexander. Still, Scott might have learned a lesson from David Lean, a filmmaker who dealt in scale, and yet never allowed Lawrence to get lost in the desert or the bridge to dwarf his River Kwai POWs. Bloom's character, meanwhile, is but a bastard blacksmith, recruited by his long-lost father (Liam Neeson) to join the Crusade to keep Jerusalem Christian. Conveniently widowed (to make room for thankless love interest Eva Green), the young man makes swords but doesn't know how to handle them. In fact, the only remotely compelling personality trait he possesses is a unique ability to survive when all those around him fall.

It doesn't help that Kingdom of Heaven tells the story not of the Christians' vainglorious taking of Jerusalem , but rather, the city's surrender after a century of European occupation to Muslim warlord Saladin. It's basically The Alamo in the Holy Land or The Two Towers without the trolls. Although Scott seems to be making a point about both parties' ongoing feud for Jerusalem , the movie seems more like a classic Western than a contemporary political allegory. "There at the end of the world you are not what you were born, but what you have it in yourself to be," Neeson tells his son, the kind of "go west, young man" speech that inspired adventure seekers to explore America's once-lawless frontier. Kingdom of Heaven leaves you wanting to read more about this side of the Crusades. Scott has certainly uncovered a fascinating era, but not necessarily the right hero to do it justice.

—Peter Debruge

Related Links:
• Feature: Kingdom Come
With Kingdom of Heaven, the fearless Ridley Scott takes on (yipes) the Crusades.
 
• 2005 Movie Preview: Kingdom of Heaven
This epic 12th-century adventure about the Crusades promises to be a voyage back to a time when, not unlike the present, religion and warfare intertwined.

• Orlando Bloom Q&A
The actor talks about his upcoming roles in Kingdom of Heaven and Elizabethtown.

How many stars would you give Kingdom of Heaven? 0 stars   0% 1 star   0% 2 stars   0% 3 stars   12% 4 stars   88% TOTAL ENTRIES: 8