Film Review: Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of Heaven is the new movie directed by Ridley Scott, and starring Orlando Bloom. He plays Balian, a blacksmith during the 12th Century in England. At those times the Christian forces travelled as part of the crusades to defend Jerusalem from the Muslim invaders. In so doing, Balian undergoes the journey, proving to be both physical and spiritual for him, and in so doing challenges all he understands to be true.

At the present, there is a sensitivity both in society and the media about the Muslim faith. The film, perhaps surprisingly, takes an even-handed view of both the Christians and the Muslims, highlighting the good and bad shown on both sides. In fact the characters in the film who are the most weak are either those who use their religion to exercise their own ends, or those who are the most religious: priests throughout are fickle and two-faced, and the cowardly bishop at the end is prepared to deny his religion to save himself ("convert to Islam, repent later").

On the Muslim side, the leader Saladin is excellently played by Ghassan Massoud - he comes over as wise, and honourable; not looking to fight for the sake of it; instead prepared to use diplomacy and trust to preserve the rights of his people. Of course both sides have their war-mongers, and it is the king of Jerusalem, played with sensitivity and style by Edward Norton, who has to restrain the Christian military zealots.

The man who convinces Balian to join the Crusades is his father (Liam Neeson). He was typically excellent, in a role where he gets to exhibit an understated quiet strength (as he does in Kings of New York). He leads Balian to Jerusalem, and the journey is interesting from a visual viewpoint: the colours are very muted on the journey there, then the warm oranges of Israel are very much in abundance. His eventual triumphal return home treats us to England's lush and green landscape, indicating a journey's end, a place of comfort and rest.

The battle for religious discovery involves Balian visiting key landmarks, such as the place of Christ's crucifixion, in order to clarify his own beliefs. He learns that one's goodness is judged by what happens in your heart, by the way you behave, and not who your God is. He bears this out later, when he cites his reasons for defending Jerusalem against the Muslim hordes: it is important that whoever wants to pray within the walls of Jerusalem should be free to do so, not matter what their divine preference. In this, Bloom is convincing. As a man struggling to redeem himself for his earlier misdeeds, he handles 'perplexed' quite well, as well as his gradual awakening, and his increasing prominence in the eyes of the king. He's certainly not without merit, it's the warrior bravado I question. Russell Crowe, he's not.

The inevitable final battle scenes are where he just doesn't quite cut it. His beard in the movie helps him not to look like an adolescent, but I thought his tinny little voice trying to inspire an army of citizens at the end just didn't really wash. He has a romantic dalliance with Sybilla the future queen of Jerusalem, but this part of the film is badly misjudged. She is neither a good actress, nor particularly sultry, and the bond between them is all a bit awkward, and a bit of an irritating addition. The film doesn't explore their relationship enough, and Orlando, instead of behaving heroically silent (as indeed Liam Neeson would have done), just behaves a bit cold with her, and the script doesn't help either of them in this regard.

The direction though is classic Ridley Scott - few can shoot action like he does. The final battle scenes are all inimitable, and he puts his mark on them in the same way as he does in Gladiator and Black Hawk Down - they feel sufficiently claustrophobic and gory as to make believe you are in the midst of them. The locations throughout are stunning - you really sense the hot climate, boiling over with religious zeal, and the costumes are spot on for both the Crusaders and Saladin's army.

All in all, worth watching. Despite a bit of a wimp as a hero character, a one-dimensional love-affair, and a script that stunts character development for all the main protagonists, the religious moments are handled in a balanced way, there's some cracking direction, and a large amount of swashbuckling action to ensure a largely satisfied audience. 6.5/10