Kingdom of Heaven

Rating: **

Considering the current geopolitical climate in the world, the War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq being prime antagonists, a movie about that one hundred year period where Christians, Jews and Muslims slugged it out over control of the Holy Land. So leave it to Ridley Scott, one of the most influential directors of our time, to not only take this potential hot potato, but run with it.

Kingdom of Heaven begins in 12th century France where a young blacksmith named Balian (Orlando Bloom) meets his birth father for the first time, a Baron named Godfrey (Liam Neeson) who is on his way to Jerusalem to fight in the Crusades and protect the Holy city from the armies of the Muslim leader Saladin (Ghassan Massoud). Having lost his wife and child and having nothing else to live for, Balian reluctantly joins his father in his mission while learning what it means to be a knight, and a man of conscience, and if possible to reconcile the disputed land into the Kingdom of Heaven.

One could consider this film a kind of thematic follow-up to Scott's Oscar winning Gladiator, but no matter your feelings toward that film, Kingdom is no Gladiator. While both Gladiator and Kingdom wander through various subplots and political maneuverings, Gladiator remained focused on Maximus and his revenge. But Kingdom only focuses when it comes down to the climactic siege of Jerusalem, when Balian suddenly is transformed into a master strategist and military general.

Ridley Scott continually proves, as with some of his past efforts like Legend, Black Rain and Hannibal, that his style as a director can over come the quality of the material, and he does so again with Kingdom of Heaven. The battle scenes combine the ferocity of Gladiator and the close quarter’s immediacy of Black Hawk Down, while the photography by regular Scott collaborator John Mathieson is unquestionably beautiful. The cast manages to get the job done although there are times that the term "auto-pilot" comes to mind in regards to some of the performances. As for Orlando Bloom, he's probably now so adept as a sword's man he could probably make a career out of being an actual Crusader. I'm more looking forward to Bloom's more contemporary turn in Cameron Crowe's upcoming Elizabethtown.

The politics of the film will undoubtedly hit a sore spot for some, but not for submitting to traditional stereotypes. The famed Knights of Templar are portrayed as race baiting thugs, while Masseur’s Saladin, whose legend in the Middle East to this day is so great that Saddam Hussein once claimed to be his direct descendant, is portrayed as a thoughtful, and honourable leader. Ultimately though debates of religion play shot gun to the epic battles, and political power plays, Bloom's character is borderline agnostic and more preoccupied with potential romance with a princess played by Eva Green. It’s hard to believe a man without deep religious conviction would rise to such prominence in the Crusades.

Kingdom of Heaven is unquestionably ambitious in scope and style but it ultimately tries to be too many things, and I think the only sword fight movie fans are looking forward do right now involve a couple of guys named Anakin and Obi-wan.