Movie Review Napoleon

Napoleon (2023) 

Directed by Ridley Scott 

Written by David Scarpa 

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby 

Release Date November 22nd, 2023 

Published November 27th, 2023 

Napoleon stars Joaquin Phoenix as the legendary French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte. Once merely a soldier, Napoleon is driven by an iron will to become the leader of all France. What drives Napoleon? What experiences made him such a single minded, obsessive leader, clinging with all of his might to power? That's the heart of what Ridley Scott is after in Napoleon and its questionable whether or not he got there or not. The film is wildly accomplished, technically superb, but it lingers a great deal and some of the lingering aspects leave you wondering what the point of it all is. The lack of a point may be the point. 

We meet Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette is dragged from the royal mansion of France and taken to the gallows. France lines up behind the revolutionary Robespierre but he's soon deposed as well. As Bonaparte helps quell another coup attempt, the power vacuum in France sweeps up more leaders until the tip of the French sword, Napoleon himself takes the reigns. It was a very fast rise to power but given the lack of leaders, the spineless neophyte politicians and remaining royalists, it's no wonder that a dictator willing to get his hands bloody would eventually take hold. 

Written off as a brute, Napoleon uses force to establish dominance and cunning to win on the battlefield. Regardless of what the bourgeois aristocrats of France think, Napoleon commands an army while they can merely command words. As Napoleon's power grows, he seeks companionship and finds it in a former aristocrat whose husband was beheaded in one of the many revolutions. Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) is a snakelike woman capable of slithering into any man's bed. She makes plain that she has a history and that if Napoleon has a problem with that, as so many men do, he should look elsewhere. 

Her forceful sexuality and allure are more than enough for Napoleon to overlook her potentially scandalous background. The two are married and Napoleon leaves to conquer the known world. We see him in various parts of the world, most notably Egypt where France attempted to destroy the ancient pyramids and Napoleon came face to face with Egyptian royalty in the form of a disinterred Mummy whom Napoleon cannot help but compare himself in terms of stature. Napoleon wishes to be as venerated as the Egyptian leaders were, but he first must deal with his cheating wife and a series of toady politicians looking to gain his favor. 

Find my full length review of Napoleon at Geeks.Media. 

Movie Review The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) 

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Written by David Scarpa

Starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Jaden Smith, Jon Hamm, Kathy Bates, Kyle Chandler

Release Date December 12th, 2008

Published December 12th, 2008

My fellow critics are being far too hard on the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. Maybe it's fond memories of the 1951 Robert Wise original or maybe they are just grumpy, but my fellow critics have come out hard against this movie and I think they are overreacting. I will stipulate that from the standards of a traditional good movie vs bad movie standard The Day The Earth Stood Still is a bad movie. On the other hand, I think all of us knew that going in.

Keanu Reeves stars in The Day The Earth Stood Still as Klaatu, an alien from some unnamed universe collective. He has come to rescue the earth. From whom you might wonder. Autobots and Decepticons? No. The Borg Collective? No. Gremlins? No. No Klaatu is here to save the earth from you. You and me and your brother, mother, sister and cousin. Yes, humanity is a threat to the planet and if you can't pull that metaphor out of thin air, you really need to pick up a freakin' newspaper.

For the supremely dull, The Day The Earth Stood Still is an environmentalist parable. Humans are poisoning the planet and Klaatu is here to rescue it and the non-human inhabitants that are the earth's real friends. Standing in Klaatu's way is scientist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly). Well she isn't physically standing in his way but she does appoint herself the savior by trying to reason with the killer alien.

Helen and her supremely irritating son Jacob (Jaden 'Big Willie's kid' Smith) team up to show Klaatu that humanity can change, learn lessons and maybe stop killing the planet. All we need is a wake up call. How about the destruction of most of the eastern seaboard?

Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm and Kyle Chandler round out the rest of the main cast in inconsequential roles. Then again, there is little of consequence in the whole of The Day The Earth Stood Still. Which brings me to my central thesis. Despite the environmental parable, at its heart The Day The Earth Stood Still is not a message movie. This is pure popcorn entertainment. Director Scott Derrickson gets it. He focuses great attention on the special effects which even the most ardent haters admit are pretty cool. The tiny metal bugs that begin eating humanity are badass effects and that truck eating scene. Very Cool.

So what if the metaphor is obvious and Keanu is a total cheeseball and that the film is more blatant about cross promotion than your average commercial TV broadcast, we knew walking into this movie that great art was not in our future. What The Day The Earth Stood Still was meant to deliver and what it does deliver are eye catching effects and some unintentional humor. We got those things in spades. I laughed throughout and left the theater with a big smile on my face. This goofball, popcorn blockbuster is fast paced, fun and the effects are dynamite. To expect this movie to treat serious topics with serious intent is a fool's errand.

You walk in knowing this is a big dumb movie and that is part of what you get. You also get a kick out of just how big and dumb the movie is. The filmmakers may not have meant to make me laugh and my smile at the end may have been somewhat ironic but so what. I truly enjoyed the experience of The Day The Earth Stood Still. How could I not recommend to you such a good time movie.

Movie Review: The Last Castle

The Last Castle (2001) 

Directed by Rod Lurie 

Written by David Scarpa, Graham Yost 

Starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Delroy Lindo 

Release Date October 19th, 2001 

Published October 18th, 2001 

The Last Castle is yet another film that falls into the category of could have been great. All the elements are there including a strong cast, headed up by Robert Redford and James Gandolfini, and a good director in former film critic Rod Lurie who directed The Contender, one of the best films of 2000. Unfortunately The Last Castle is too predictable and hampered by lead performance by Mr. Redford which lacks investment.

The Last Castle is the story of General Eugene Irwin (Redford) who, we are told, is a legend from Vietnam to the Gulf War to Bosnia. Now, Irwin is a prisoner following court martial and is sentenced to 10 years in prison for reasons left unsaid for a reason. Irwin serves his time in the military prison known as 'The Castle.' It's called the castle because it looks like a castle but also because it is ruled by a tyrannical wannabe King. 

James Gandolfini plays the malevolent warden, Commandant Edward Winter, who rules his prison with fear and treatment many might consider cruel. General Irwin wants nothing more than to just serve his time but after witnessing abuse of prisoners, and outright murder, Irwin decides to lead a revolt. Using a prison informant, CPL Sam Yates (Mark Ruffalo), as a double agent, Irwin sets in motion a plan to cause an uprising that will be witnessed by Winter's superior, General Wheeler (Delroy Lindo). That should be enough to get Winter removed from command. 

The story of The Last Castle is entertainingly told with some moments of genius including a scene early in the revolt involving the kidnapping of another General played by Delroy Lindo. However Lindo's character seems curiously out sync, he seems to show up just to setup other scenes and acts as more of a plot device than a character. What completely undoes The Last Castle however is Redford. It goes without saying that Robert Redford is a brilliant actor, a true legend, but he is on auto-pilot in The Last Castle and his lack of interest in the plot and his own character is palpable. 

Redford's previous film to The Last Castle was the sleep inducing lead role in The Horse Whisperer and he brought the same sleepy disinterest in performing to General Irwin who seems to have no passion for what he's doing.  Redford's Irwin seems more inconvenienced by having to lead an uprising than he appears to care about the men he's seen being abused. I understand it's best to remain calm and collected in the circumstances of a plot like but there is calm and then there is a sense of complete apathy.

Gandolfini on the other hand is passionate, energetic and thin-skinned. His war with Irwin begins with a minor verbal slight from the General. Gandolfini evokes MASH's Frank Burns on steroids, mad with power and envy. If only Redford had a little Hawkeye Pierce in his General Irwin the sparring between these two characters would have least had some good one liners and Hawkeye was if anything passionate.

It's sad that The Last Castle represented one of Gandolfini's best performances and he's let down by a legendary co-star who couldn't be bothered to try and match his co-stars effort. Gandolfini is almost so good in The Last Castle that I would recommend it just for him, Sadly, the film drags whenever Redford's laconic General is in the lead and that's most of The Last Castle.