“Impossible is a word to be found in the dictionary of fools,” said French Military Commander and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
A new war and action movie titled “Napoleon” was released to theaters on Nov. 22 and it leaves me wondering what the movie was really about. I thought it would be about the incredible general who is Napoleon, but it was really about the love Napoleon had for Josephine which disappointed me.
Napoleon himself is a very interesting person to create a film about and jamming his entire life story in two and a half hours would be incredibly difficult. I believe that Ridley Scott, the director, should have focused more on one or two battles he had in his life and told that tale instead of showing his whole life, nevertheless, the film didn’t come out horrible.
The film took a look at the military commander’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine.
Most of the historical context for each battle isn’t shown either as it shows him just giving orders to his armies when they needed to attack for the victory. It doesn’t depict the true military genius that Bonaparte had. Even though a movie can’t really display all the historical aspects into a movie, it still should’ve shown more than it did to truly showcase the tragedies of war.
They did somewhat mention the number of deaths he had at the end, but these numbers should’ve had an impact during the movie. Of course, we do see the two exiles that were placed on him, but it just cuts away at him arriving at the islands. It shows nothing concerning his wife’s reaction or even his own.
Even though the plot didn’t come to my liking, there were quite a few other points that the movie intrigued me about. The special effects, cinematography, clothing, and scenery were all incredible and relevant to the time period of the movie.
The scenery really interested me because it was mostly on the battlefield or in a mansion, but the background was quite beautiful. Everything about it was amazing and brought up the dramatic scenes for Bonaparte to be seen as powerful.
Joaquin Phoenix did a good job depicting Napoleon; however, it was pretty lackluster at times. The depiction of his love for Josephine was incredibly shown, but not without the subtraction of his love for France. You can see some instances where he shows his love for France, but it takes the backseat to his love for Josephine, which is disappointing.
The true highlight acting came from Vanessa Kirby portraying the loyal and subservient partner of Bonaparte, Empress Josephine Bonaparte. She truly showed the emotions and resolve that Josephine had for her husband and how she needed to go along with the divorce to let Napoleon get an heir for France.
Overall, the movie is good, but has flaws that undermine the film. I can’t recommend the movie to everyone due to the severe number of violent and bloody scenes. For a rated R film, this movie doesn’t disappoint with the violence of war.
The movie ran for 2 hours and 38 minutes and I would give this movie a six out of 10-star review.
