Movie Review: Kingdom of Heaven (B-)

“Kingdom of Heaven” is a big movie, and director Ridley Scott has had a lot of success with such ventures. Consider his impressive handling of sweeping, large-scale stories such as “Gladiator,” “Blackhawk Down,” and “Blade Runner.” In this case, Scott again does a spectacular job of bringing a very specific visual world to the screen. Unlike his other successes, however, “Kingdom of Heaven” doesn’t have the plot to support its stunning looks.

The story revolves around Balian (Orlando Bloom), a French blacksmith who has just lost his wife and child in tragic circumstances. He is deep in mourning when Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), a great crusading knight, shows up and informs the blacksmith that he is Godfrey’s son, the result of a semi-consensual tryst years ago. Godfrey asks Balian to return to Jerusalem with him. There follows a long and trouble-fraught journey to the holy land. Upon arriving, Balian finds himself in the middle of a political and religious tornado. The Christians currently control Jerusalem, but the ruling Christian king allows all religions to worship in the city and is generally a swell guy to the Muslims in the area. This unrealistically tolearant outlook apparently gives the equally swell Muslim general Saladin reason to put off invading the city with his 200,000 soldiers. But wait, there are bad-guy Christians waiting in the wings for the swell king to die! Whatever will happen then? Without going too much further into the plot, I will tell you the things that you already know: There are some big battles, with lots of carnage and interesting weapons of war, and of course, our hero Balian is right smack in the middle of it all.

As I said, the most impressive aspect of “Kingdom of Heaven” is the cinematography. Scott knows how to capture the essence of a location like few other people. Whether it’s the overcast, frigid landscape of medieval France or the sun-baked, arid deserts of the holy land, you come away with an almost visceral impression of the movie’s various locales. The scenes in and around Jerusalem are nearly breathtaking, as the famous walled city is recreated with a perfect balance of computer graphics and actual set construction (George Lucas, take note please). The interior shots and costumes are similarly lush, and the result is a recreation of an almost mythical place that feels deeply realistic. Additionally, Scott (or his music editor) seems adept at choosing the perfect music for a given location or moment, which substantially enhances the visual impact.

There endeth the heavy praise, as the plot of “Kingdom of Heaven” is a minor mess. As I mentioned above, there is a fair amount of political intrigue in Jerusalem. Some of this makes sense, but historically speaking, I doubt very deeply that there were either Christians or Muslims as tolerant and open-minded as the ones in this movie. The result is a formula in which events (heroic charges, large battles, love intrigues, etc.) happen not because they make sense, but because the movie needs them to happen. For instance, Nice Guy Balian and the Equally Reasonable Muslims fight less for logically sound reasons and more because there must be an obligatory battle scene. Like everything else, the battles are great to watch, but not all of them make a lot of sense.

In addition to the large gaps in logic, there are numerous small ones that are irksome. As an example, consider the resume of Balian. This lifelong blacksmith receives fully five minutes of combat training in a French forest from his father, and that’s it. Upon arriving in Jerusalem, he possesses the following abilities: Exemplary swordsmanship and strategic battle skills. The ability to locate water, dig a well, and irrigate a sizeable piece of desert land. An understanding of how water functions in terms of desert warfare. Command of substantial anti-siege tactics, including the apparent invention of pre-sighted artillery emplacements. I’m willing to accept the elevated abilities of a main character, but movies usually create a back story to justify it. There is none of that here. Balian is just a really spectacular guy.

In addition to the problems of logic, there seem to be too many stories crammed into two hours and twenty five minutes. There is a lot of mucking about before we even get to Jerusalem, and once we’re there the aforementioned political complexities are mixed in with an unnecessary love story, a friendship across enemy lines, complex battle strategies, and a recurring religion vs. humanism theme. As a result, all of the stories are compressed and abbreviated, and the resulting chaos leaves you feeling confused. As a friend of mine put it afterwards, “Tell me what that movie was about.”

As far as the acting goes, everybody is just fine. No one is noticeably good or noticeably bad, just generally adequate. Orlando Bloom gets the job done acceptably if not interestingly. Liam Neeson does a solid job as the self-assured, understated Godfrey, and Jeremy Irons has a nice turn as a gravelly-voiced knight, one of the “good guys” in the political mess of Jerusalem. Eva Green plays a reasonably intriguing love interest to Balian, but she’s not so intriguing that we understand why he’s immediately taken with her.

The bottom line, despite all of the above reservations, is that you should probably see this movie. It’s a little bit long and the plot is a little bit mucky, but the sweeping scale of the entire project is worth seeing on the big screen. Scott has done his usual bang-up job with the visuals, and the result is a movie that is beautiful and intriguing to look at from beginning to end. Check your brain at the door and enjoy the lush scenery, the massive battle scenes, and the viscerally impactful sights of “Kingdom of Heaven.”


Now that's a big battle.