SummaryNapoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix). Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte's relentless journey to power through the prism of his ad...
SummaryNapoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix). Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte's relentless journey to power through the prism of his ad...
Napoleon isn’t a movie about grand triumph, or about disastrous failure. It’s a story about masculine insecurity, and how it can reduce the world to violence.
Really enjoyed this. What a refreshing change from Marvel and DC and endless sequels. Not a doco, so enjoy it for what it actually is, an interpretation of events none of us really know about anyway. Phoenix is a master of his craft, and the work of the crafts is equally masterful - predict some
Oscar love goes to these people. Bring on more epic cinema like this, we need it desperately. Experience it on the biggest of screens.
What could have been one of the best films of the year feels like a microcosm of Ridley Scott's career due to disjointed visions towards the source **** screenplay feels malnutritioned, as if a 4 hour epic has been forcefully cut short to 2h40mins. Entire acts are not fleshed out, scenes end abruptly and the editing is jarring and unpleasant to look at.Although it's surprising valleys, Napoleon has its fair share of peaks - much like the great Emperor himself if you may. A stellar performance by the entire cast, applause worthy set and costume designs, cinematography that makes it look like a mediaeval royal painting has come to life - a treat to experience in a theatre.Features rivetting and jaw-dropping war sequences with some of the best crowd directing I have seen in recent years. There's a lot of CGI here, that you will never notice - the best type of CGI. The final act is definitely the strongest, the first 2 needed more time to breathe.
Envisions Napoleon as a complex mix of the imposing and the absurd, his dreams of conquest—and single-minded ability to make them a reality—matched by his folly and awkwardness.
Napoleon was without a doubt a complex and controversial character whose shadow loomed large over the first quarter of the 19th century. He deserves a better-focused, more passionate movie than the one Scott has provided.
Dense without feeling rushed, then done without ever having really sprung to life, Napoleon seems determined to cover a great deal of ground over its not-insignificant running time.
A fairly short film which tries to convey French history in 2h30 and which ends quite bitterly,The battle scenes are short but rather intense and the film focuses more on Josephine and her relationship with Napoleon rather than his military strategist
Ridley Scott dumbs down history for the general public for this historically inaccurate and beautiful-looking yet sprawling mess of a film that details Napoleon Bonaparte's (Joaquin Phoenix) rise from ruthless French general to overbearing dictator and emperor of France who went on to invade and conquer several European territories. The film also details the tumultuous relationship with his wife Josephine (Vanessa Kirby in a scene-stealing supporting turn.) As you can maybe already tell, I wasn't too keen on this one unfortunately. Scott's historical epics tend to be rather hit or miss for me most of the time, with 'Gladiator', 'The Last Duel', and the director's cut of 'Kingdom of Heaven' being his strongest efforts, while others such as 'House of Gucci' and 'Exodus: Gods and Kings' fell a little flat. Unfortunately, this one falls a little more into the latter territory. There's a lot that's wrong with this one unfortunately. While Scott's always had a difficult time with films set in a foreign country and having it almost completely Americanized in terms of the language and lack of accents ('The Last Duel' was also set in France), this time around, it was glaringly obvious. Only in a handful of scenes is there even any actual French spoken, and no French accents are to be found anywhere here, leaving Phoenix and the rest of the cast stuck with out of place and uncertain-sounding British accents, not unlike 'House of Gucci' in which the one time Scott actually attempted to have his American actors attempt foreign accents misfired horribly, as the Italian accents were comically over-the-top and completely all over the place. As far as historical accuracy goes, Scott also decided to completely throw that out the window here too, as the real Napoleon was 35 when he became emperor as opposed to Phoenix being nearly 50. Josephine also happened to be 6 years Napoleon's senior, yet Kirby is a whole 14 years younger than Phoenix. And just to kick things off more excitingly, Scott decided to open the film by randomly placing Napoleon at the moment of Marie Antoinette's execution, despite the real Napoleon not being present for that at all. In addition, tonally, the film is completely inconsistent and all over the place with that too. What's supposedly meant to be a serious, epic, and brooding war biopic inexplicably delves into unexpected (and rather forced) humor during several moments throughout, and it all falls completely flat and simply doesn't work. The only real positives here are the fierce performance of Kirby as Josephine and the incredible and often captivating battle sequences and cinematography. Say what you will about Scott, but there's no denying the man knows how to craft a hell of a war/battle epic. It's just a shame that it can't make up for the rest of this disjointed film. Overall, highly Hollywoodized, historically inaccurate, and tonally inconsistent, not even the normally great Phoenix or scene-stealer Kirby, along with the beautiful cinematography and impressive battle sequences can save this one. Here's hoping Scott can redeem himself next year with 'Gladiator 2.' Fingers crossed, cause I definitely expected better from him here.
Мені дуже не сподобався фільм, через жахливий сценарій. Картина нагадує вирізки з історичних хронік ніж повноцінний самодостатній фільм. Щоб зрозуміти події фільму вам потрібно йти до кінотеатру з підручником по історії, і ретельно дивитись за титрами які показують час і події. У результаті ми отримали набір незрозумілих кадрів. Єдине що вдалося це сцени бойових дій, та гра головного актора.
A messy, unexciting, unrelatable take on such a rich historical figure.
oddly there is a major lack of believability and sometimes the whole thing feels awkwardly cheesy.
Despite the obvious horrendous amount of money poured into production the feel of the film fell short in comparison to the likes of Barry lindon and amadeus.
Of course British director shows Napoleon as a villain, this is not even funny anymore, this just shows how pathetic England really is. These people want to pretend like their leaders/kings were amazing people, while this is as far from the truth as humanly possible. In trailers they show Napoleon as epic leader, but in actual movie he is pathetic loser, this is obviously not what real Napoleon was like. Just open history book for once. But director of this movie very clearly hates Napoleon, so he just makes him look like a joke. Hopefully it bombs, never watching his movies again.