As the Russian winter approaches, walking through the deserted and vandalized city of Moscow, you watch your fellow soldiers suffer from typhus, and dysentery. Yet one emperor, one general, one man tells you to keep going; Napoleon. Troubled from the start, Napoleon goes from nobody to Emperor back to nobody, going all the way to Moscow just to rot in Saint Helena, an island thousands of miles away from France, with no legacy. Like Napoleon, the movie promised great potential, yet failed to deliver at the final moment.
What seems like a boring biography with a long runtime of 2 ½ hours, is filled to the brim with the sexual drama, battle scenes, and political nightmare of the war fanatic-made-emperor’s life. The film starts off at the French Revolution, with the beheading of royalists and subsequently the death of Robespierre. Though Napoleon isn’t in the first scene of the movie, he quickly becomes the main character, as we see Napoleon’s battle in Toulon, which marked one of the first major victories for Napoleon. In short; Napoleon then finds the love of his life, and embarks on a mission to conquer Europe. There were a few issues with the movie as there seemed to be no actual plot, but more of a documentary, which isn’t as fun or entertaining. Also, the wrong small details like dates or the skimping out on certain scenes would drive the history buff mad, although the 4 hour director’s cut might just please the crazy Napoleon fan.
Actor Joaquin Phoenix, playing Napoleon, was an excellent choice for the challenged Napoleon, reminding the viewer a bit of his role as Joker. Phoenix makes Napoleon feel alive again, through the correct portrayal of his love life, being passionately, almost obsessed with Josephine. Arguably, one of the most important scenes in the whole movie was Napoleon discovering Josephine’s death, Phoenix plays Napoleon as if he lost everything, gloomy and directionless for the rest of the movie. Like in the Joker, Phoenix is amazing at acting slightly crazy or on edge while also being serious and with a straight face. This ability really shines through during the last scene (i.e. Waterloo), where he becomes increasingly fanatic, having lost Josephine, and hoping to win at a losing battle.
Ridley Scott, known for also directing Gladiator and Blade Runner does a great job of creating and shooting the battle scenes, yet he fails to get historical accuracy at the movie’s most important battle, Austerlitz. Scott also fails to reach into Napoleon’s childhood or prior life to the Revolution, leaving the viewer clueless to how Napoleon became Napoleon.
I think that it’s safe to conclude the portrayal of the battle scenes are past anything I’ve ever seen but, making the movie more interesting by adding a few scenes, and setting up a plot (like starting from the end of his life), would elevate this movie to a masterpiece, surpassing almost any biography. I believe that it’s also a safe conclusion to state that Napoleon was filled with AWESOME battle scenes that’ll keep any viewer awake, but it’s the slowness and lack of a plot that makes people fall back asleep. With such a great cast and battle scenes it’s hard to see it fail on its inaccuracy and smoothness, somewhat like Napoleon, the movie didn’t live up to its potential.
