Film Review : Kingdom of Heaven

Like most bloggers, I started with a flourish but haven’t posted anything for more than a month now. So to make amends here's a review of Kingdom of Heaven. I saw this in May, so you'll have to forgive me if my memory isn't perfect.

The film is set during the Crusades, and follows Orlando Bloom as Balian, a French blacksmith who is miraculously transformed into a great leader of men. When he's not busy leading an army in the fight to defend Jerusalem he also finds time to teach the residents of the parched Holy Lands how to dig wells and use irrigation to water their crops - however did they survive before he came along?!

The film is high on spectacle, and definitely looks good. There are some great set pieces and some good acting, and it’s a relief that the Muslims aren’t portrayed as the bad guys. But somehow the film didn't quite work. Ultimately I think Orlando Bloom is just too young and too good looking to be taken seriously as a great leader and hero. Director Ridley Scott is obviously trying to replicate the success of Gladiator, but this film falls well short. Orlando Bloom is no Russell Crowe, and the film doesn't pack the same emotional punch.

I give it 3.5 stars.