Napoleon

Director Ridley Scott and writer David Scarpa bring to the screen the story of French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. The story follows, roughly, the last 30 years of Napoleon’s (Joaquin Phoenix) life, from ambitious General and his victory over the English at Toulon, through his political rise in post revolutionary France. It looks at his diplomatic struggles with the Royal Houses of Europe and the campaigns that were his undoing, his failure in Russia and his ill fated battle with The Duke of Wellington (Rupert Everett) at Waterloo. Constant throughout this is his love for Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) and their often complicated and volatile relationship.

There are two ways to tell these kind of stories, focus on small parts of a life or try to cover a large portion of it. Scott goes for the latter and ultimately that’s were the film falls a little flat. In trying to cover his battles, his political machinations and loves, it doesn’t really tell any of those stories well enough. Skimming over them and, for me, making it a little unengaging.

There are things to enjoy, especially in Phoenix’s and Vanessa Kirby’s performances. Both are excellent. Phoenix portrays Napoleon’s complexities, strategies, eccentricity, arrogance and insecurity. Kirby balances him well with a feisty and determined Josephine. It also looks great, with its impressive buildings and vistas and visceral battle scenes.

But there is also confusion as the story jumps through major parts of his life and often tonally it’s not clear whether it’s painting Napoleon as a complex leader or foolish clown, although this does lead to the film being surprisingly funny at times.

Ultimately it was all a bit underwhelming as it plodded through its 2 1/2hr plus run time.

While it looks great and has two excellent central performances, it left me feeling underwhelmed. It tries to cover a lot and subsequently doesn’t really cover anything in enough detail to draw you in. Napoleon is a fascinating character, but this film doesn’t fully capture that, which is a pity.