Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
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Kingdom of Heaven Movie Review
Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 epic historical film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Orlando Bloom, Eva Green and Liam Neeson among others. It’s such a good, underrated film.
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“What man is a man who does not make the world better“
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The story is set during the Crusades of the 12th century. A French village blacksmith goes to the aid of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in its defence against the Muslim Sultan, Saladin, who is fighting to claim the city from the Christians. This leads to the Battle of Hattin. I had not known much about the Crusades before this movie, and it was a solid introduction to this chapter in history as it’s rather accurate and very much grounded in reality.
This film is famous for having such a tumultuous release history. Unfortunately, it was butchered for a theatrical release, and it thus received very weak reviews. But the director’s cut later came out and it was critically acclaimed. Still, even though the movie has now grown a cult status, that initial release tainted its reputation, which is quite unfortunate.
What I appreciated here is its thematic richness. A diplomatic king who is entirely misunderstood in this time period, the tragedy of the lepers is in full display and those were the most touching scenes in the film, the arrogance and foolishness of the Crusaders, the very realistically portrayed siege of the town… Each of these is very well explored unexpectedly so.
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In terms of characterization, the film’s a mixed bag. I really did not care for Balian. I find these protagonists in these epic movies so boring and uninteresting. All of his lines were typically robust and overly inspirational that some were downright cringy. I also never found Orlando Bloom’s acting particularly good. But Jeremy Irons is quite good as annoying Raynald, David Thewlis is excellent in a very likable role and I also really liked Liam Neeson here, and I wanted more of him.
But Edward Norton as the king is so wonderful. His performance is stupendous, and the character is so tragic, but also brave and kind at the same time. I loved every scene with him, and some were downright heartbreaking. Eva Green as Sibylla is my favorite of the bunch. I found her having to deal with her sick brother and son to be the best, most moving arc here.
Kingdom of Heaven is quite epic in terms of technical aspects. The cinematography is excellent, Scott’s direction is fantastic and the production design and VFX are both superb. The action is overwhelming, I have to say. The entire siege lasted for way too long, and I am not a fan of such spectacles that last forever. However, even I had to admit that the siege was amazingly executed, and it was simply incredibly realistic and plausible throughout. The entire movie is very serious and raw, making it suitable for history enthusiasts.
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What bothered me is the ending. It was very obviously pro-Muslim and also falsely hopeful and sensible in the outcome that rang fake for this time period. The whole flick is very raw and real, but the finale felt overly modern in a too optimistic and human approach which I simply did not buy. But otherwise, it remains a pretty good, underappreciated Ridley Scott effort.
Owing to its butchered theatrical release, Kingdom of Heaven’s reputation is still somewhat tainted, but there’s no denying the power of the director’s cut. Though ringing false in its overly hopeful ending, the rest of the film is admirably realistic and raw in the honest depiction of this time period. The performances are uniformly great, some of the characters are very interesting and the movie explores some excellent themes too. It has way too much action in its third act, but the spectacle is impressively mounted, especially in terms of VFX, production design, score and many authentic period details.
