Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) Movie Review

1158, Godfrey of Ibelin (Neeson) returns home from the Crusades to seek his son, Balian (Bloom). On finding him, he takes Balian under his wing and travels back to Jerusalem but when he is fatally wounded in battle, his title and responsibility pass to his son. It is now up to Balian to protect the people of the Holy City, as he is sworn to be a knight.

Director Ridley Scott returns to the genre that gave him Oscar success but can his new historical drama be as good as ‘Gladiator’?

After the huge success of his last historical epic and the unprecedented critical and financial failure of ones that followed like ‘Troy’ and ‘Alexander’, it was up to Ridley Scott to reinvigorate the genre and with ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ he almost succeeds.

The subject matter and the historical backdrop are instantly interesting and made for great source material. The epic battles and power mongering of the Crusades easily makes epic cinema and Scott takes this and runs with it with his usual visual flair and gift for grandeur. The look of the film is quite simply stunning and one of the most realistic looking films ever created for the genre. With ‘Troy’, ‘Alexander’ and even ‘The Lord of the Rings’ there was a computer animated look to the battle sequences. While most of these still looked good, especially ‘The Lord of the Rings’, nothing comes close to this film for pure realism. The siege of Jerusalem is quite simply stunning. Ridley Scott and his creative team take you into the heart of the battle, as if you were one of the knights or soldiers involved but then he will pan out to reveal the full extent of the confrontation and never at any point do you think ‘this is the computer generated bit then’. It is this realism that makes ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ a visual spectacle and a treat to watch.

The visuals of the piece do not hide the film’s major shortcoming however, the final cut. At 145 minutes, the film is a decent length but you can’t help feel it should be longer. You would think that you are watching the TV edit of the movie, as the storyline doesn’t feel as complete as it should have been. The film raises too many questions that are not answered or suitably resolved. Why did Balian instantly become close to his father? How did he learn to fight so well in such a short time? How did he become such a good military tactician? All these questions and more are not answered and you feel that they could be on the cutting room floor waiting for their inclusion on the director’s cut DVD. They should have been included in the theatrical release however as it would have made for a more complete story.

The performances from the cast do try and make up for the shortcomings and plot holes in the story however. While some may argue that Orlando Bloom is too much of a pretty boy for a role like this, he does rise to challenge of such a commanding leading role. A slightly older and bigger actor would have given the part more screen presence but the character and the film is more about the ideal of a knight than the man in the armour. Orlando Bloom grows into the role as the film progresses, mirroring his experience in battle and his observations of what is going on around him, and it proves that he might actually have what it takes to be a leading man.

Orlando is supported by some of the best in the business. Jeremy Irons and David Thewlis are exceptional as Tiberias, the leader of the King’s knights and Hospitaler, Godfrey’s priest and advisor to Balian. Marton Csokas plays the power hungry, warmonger Guy de Lusignan with great skill because you instantly hate him. The same can be said about Brendan Gleeson as Reynald, the Templar Knight with a thirst for war. Ghassan Massoud is excellent as the Muslim King Saladin, portraying with an heir of dignity. The beautiful Eva Green is exceptional as Princess Sibylla, even though her part could do with more screen time. Liam Neeson makes his presence known in a relatively small role. It is Edward Norton almost steals show however as the leprosy riddled King Baldwin. He has more screen presence behind a mask than most actors could ever dream of.

‘Kingdom of Heaven’ might not be in the same league as ‘Gladiator’ but it is still one of the best historical dramas since the Oscar winner. A visual treat with an interesting story, this is a film that is still riveting even though you will be thinking that this should be a lot longer.