Kingdom of Heaven

By Sanjay Singh
May 10, 2005

The latest sand and sword epic brought to us so cordially by Hollywood is Sir Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. The trend having been started by Scott himself with his 2000 release Gladiator, propelled Russell Crowe into stardom. However the trend is getting quite exhaustive, and the bar without doubt having been raised among audiences around the world. After being blown away by great epics such as The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, every epic that follows must be just as great, right? That may not always be the case...

Kingdom of Heaven, starring Orlando Bloom and Eva Green, with a strong supporting cast consisting of Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons and Edward Norton (who knew?!), is a war epic set in the Crusades during the 12th century. In a war set between the Christians and the Muslims, who are battling to recover their Holy Land, Jerusalem which had been taken away by the Christians, Bloom stars as the blacksmith turned knight, commanding an army into battle.

Entertainment 5/10

Regardless of the film's length, right from the get-go the film has difficulty maintaining the audience's attention. The film's strength in terms of entertainment relies dominantly on the action and battle sequences. However, these sequences itself do very little in maintaining interest as the focus often shifts as well as leveling off before reaching a climactic moment. The story itself can be difficult to follow as scenes jump and move fairly quickly. In addition, there are moments in the film where dialogue is critical to the progression of the story but it often got muddled with lesser important points in conversation.

Though Sir Ridley Scott has quite an extensive film career, his skills did not seem to translate in this film. Often, it felt rather sloppy with scenes thrown together and the execution of the story a bit poor. His prior films such as Gladiator and Blade Runner were tight and concise in its storytelling yet Scott appears to have taken a different approach with Kingdom of Heaven. There were many moments where the audience is expected to invest and believe in character actions "just cause" without any real motivation behind them. For example, the Priest (Michael Sheen) at the opening of the film is rather malicious and unforgiving yet from an audience standpoint, we were expected to buy into his evil "just cause" it provided a character moment for Balian (Orlando Bloom). All in all, interest was best sustained during battle sequences but not much elsewhere.

Innovation 8/10

Though aesthetically beautiful, the film itself was not "innovative" per se. Much of the film's strength relied on the production design and overall "look" of the film. The sets were expansive and definitely did not have that "carved from foam" look about it. The costuming and design definitely draws the audience into the story and without a doubt, does not draw attention to the film's production.

Emotional Resonance 5.5/10

The development of characters and relationships has lacked greatly in this film as the story plowed ahead without reaffirming motivation or a certain mindset of a character. It begins with Balian at the start of the film. All that is known about his state of mind at that point is that he has lost his child and his wife has committed suicide as a result and he wishes to redeem her soul. Though noble, and possibly heartbreaking, we never see Balian mourn for his wife or suffer in her sins, instead he quickly becomes interested in Princess Sibylla (Eva Green) and a relationship ensues. His intentions of redeeming his wife become entirely lost.

In addition, the audience is not left long enough with any one character in order to emotionally invest in one. It is definitely attempted to align the audience with Balian, however at times it feels rather forced and awkward, such as the one moment of voice over dialogue where we are in Balian's head as he thinks of his wife, yet never again do we return to a voice over dialogue or a similar approach where the audience has a first hand experience with Balian's perspective.

King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton) was the most interesting character of the ensemble cast. Though his role not at all greatly featured (despite having a great actor in the role), he still became one of the characters of greatest interest. Plagued with leprosy, he still commanded a great deal of respect and intelligence. He was a noble man with clear motivations and more development in contrast to others.

Social Context 8/10

The Crusades in general are not one of the more popular topics selected for a film epic. Greek inspired and fantasy flicks are more the rage, however, many do little in informing an audience on a more socially conscious context. The Crusades, about a battle between the Christians and Muslims can definitely be a touchy topic. However, the heart of the film is more so about protecting humanity above all. A definite theme that we should all acknowledge - regardless of one's religious background or difference.

"Safeguard the helpless even if it leads to your death; that is your oath." - Balian

Recall 6/10

It is difficult to remember a film when the story itself was rather muddled. In addition, as the film quickly sped through scenes and moved on to another, it did not leave very much time to process the importance or significance of it. Much of what does get remembered about the film are its flaws. Such as realizing the discomfort one has when sitting in a chair stoically for two and half hours...

Overall 65%

See it if you're an Orlando Bloom fan.

North American Release Date: May 06, 2005
Running Time: 145 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Sir Ridley Scott
Producers: Sir Ridley Scott, Branko Lustig, Lisa Ellzey, and Terry Needham
Screenplay: William Monahan
Director of Photography: John Mathieson, B.S.C.
Editor: Dody Dorn, A.C.E.
Music: Harry Gregson-Williams