Kingdom of Heaven (USA/Spain/UK/Germany) (20th Century Fox) (2005) **1/2Year: 2005iMDB
Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson, Marton Csokas, Eva Green
For people that want epic movies, yet don't want to embrace the Lord of the Rings scale, or would rather have them anchored in "history" or reality, Ridley Scott is definitely one of the best to deliver good results.
If I compare Kingdom of Heaven with Gladiator, as everyone immediately does, in my eyes Kingdom of Heaven is better simply because I find it less manipulative. However, the story is similarly simplistic - a story of war with men of honor and men of self-importance that may lead everyone to their salvation or their death.
Orlando Bloom is Balian, a blacksmith who turns from murderer to Knight and strategic battle thinker overnight. Of course he has Liam Neeson (his father) as a mentor and if Liam could mentor Batman, we're sure he can turn a blacksmith into a knight in half the time.
If you don't care about story and just want to watch well coreographed battles set in historical times, then Kingdom of Heaven is the perfect entertainment for the night.
Posted by TheCasualCritic on November 12, 2005 10:31 AM