PrintKingdom of Heaven review roundup: 1
After reading Andrew G. Bostom's "Jihad begot the Crusades" I decided to see what people who feather their beds by writing movie reviews (other than CAIR's Khan or the Times' Riding) had to say about Kingdom of Heaven. Even the Times' Movie Details is prefaced with '05 US Drama, Romance and then goes on to say "..this epic—scale historical drama inspired by the events of the Crusades.." the operative words being romance, drama and inspired.
What follows are various reviewer's names (linked to their review) and, for proposes of my point, their relevant quotes. I noticed that while I was reviewing some of the so—called professional reviews Reliapundit submitted a collection of blog reviews so I read those too. There seems to be only one constant throughout...inconsistency. Contrary to Emerson's hobgoblins, inconsistency in this case doesn't bode well for this Alexander Redux and I doubt that will change much after this movie hits the street or should I say fan?
James Berardinelli; "..similar to [Scott's] Gladiator in many ways, with large, violent battle scenes...Where Kingdom of Heaven can be found lacking, however, is in its context. Although the story is streamlined so as not to confuse viewers*, there's a sense that a lot is missing — which, of course, is the case...The film flouts history on a number of points...You may not leave the theater feeling better educated about history or enlightened about the Crusades, but you will leave satisfied [from] 145 minutes of exciting, visceral cinema." *Typical La La Land condescension.
Hal Conklin and Denny Wayman; "..director Ridley Scott brings us a glimpse of the many motives for the Crusades, including a look at how noble ideas can be eclipsed by greed and avarice...With the grandeur of a Biblical epic, Ridley Scott gives us a historic look at the differences that still plague Jerusalem a thousand years later."
Rich Cline; "It's like watching a museum history film, although the plot is a bit suspect, since it's clearly been written to appeal to 21st century movie audiences, complete with heavy—handed moralising and obvious parallels to Bush—era politics."
Michelle Thomas; "Kingdom of Heaven isn't bad by any means. It's a big, spectacular handsome film, a triumph of style over substance. I just wish it had more soul."
Kirk Honeycutt; fulfills the requirements of grand—scale moviemaking while serving as a timely reminder that in the conflict between Christianity and Islam it was the Christians who picked the first fight [wrong!].
Eric Van Cutsem; .."rather than historical opée (epic poem), [Kingdom of Heaven] is a chevaleresque (chivalrous) tale which finds certain resonances in our contemporary world. Didn't one see in a world where America and some others launched out in a crusade against the inaccurate ones? Aren't there, following the example Balian, some valiant knights knights who preach a peaceful solution with a message pluri—cultural and pluri—monk to save the world of an all—out war and absurd?"
Markus Ostertag; "...bad Blockbuster!"
Joseph Crowley 5 05 05
