“The French don’t even like themselves.” -Ridley Scott
Napoleon is Ridley Scott’s 29th film as director and Joaquin Pheonix’s 41st movie as an actor. Napoleon hit theaters on November 22nd and is two hours and thirty-eight minutes long. The movie starts off at the beheading of Mary Antoinette and follows Napoleon’s life from the conquest of Europe to exile. Minor spoilers ahead.
Expectations can play a heavy role in the level of enjoyment people get out of a movie. If you expect Napoleon to be the next great war film to join the likes of Saving Private Ryan or 300, Napoleon will likely disappoint. This is also true if you anticipate Napoleon to be 100% historically accurate. This appears to be a big controversy… but I know next to nothing about the history of Napoleon. I also heard this was going to be a bad movie. These two facts lay the groundwork for the most basic expectation: at least be entertaining.
Joaquin Phoenix is one of those actors that you know will do an excellent job no matter what he is in. However, he is typecasted as a slightly insane person. Napoleon is crazy but he does not come across as cartoony. Phoenix does a great job of portraying a brilliant conqueror but the interpersonal romantic drama feels overemphasized and awkward at times. It is comical to see the greatness of Napoleon’s conquest as he takes over Egypt but returns back to France immediately after finding out his wife is having an affair, leaving his entire army behind. What won’t a man do for love? I do not know what is historically accurate or exaggerated but if half of the events that occur in this movie are true then Napoleon is worthy of his own movie. Phoenix does an excellent job portraying Napoleon Bonaparte.
Ridley Scott can still nail a battle sequence. Men on horseback riding into battle, armies lining up to shoot each other, cannon fire, flags waving in the background, all the hallmarks of an excellent late 18th century battle are here. If you want to see a handful of well shot battle sequences on the big screen Napoleon should satisfy you.
It is difficult to feel the emotional swell for Napoleon as one might feel at the end of 300 for Leonidas or for Aragorn charging the orcs at the end of Return of the King. While the viewer may feel for Napoleon’s desire to establish order and make France great… His conquest is ultimately fueled by his ego. Napoleon is not a great guy which makes him an unlikeable protagonist. This is part of the reason why I believe this movie will not be as beloved in memory for its epic scope as 300, Gladiator, or Saving Private Ryan. While Napoleon is not as critically panned as Blade Runner was when it first came out, I could see it having a similar path of being held in much higher esteem as time passes.
I recommend Napoleon if you:
●Appreciate a good battle sequence
● Like movies that are 2 hours and 45 minutes long but feel like 2 hours and 30 minutes
● Still use a joker profile picture on social media
●Like history but are not a purist about it
●Liked the first one (Napoleon Dynamite)