Critics have given their verdicts on the latest epic Ridley Scott, Napoleonwith generally favorable reviews across the board in the run-up to its arrival in theaters.
The historical drama stars Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role of Napoleon Bonaparte, the military mastermind and emperor of France. He spans 32 years from the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 to Napoleon’s death on Saint Helena in 1821, and explores major battles as well as romantic turmoil with his wife. Josephine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby).
Many have praised director Scott for creating the kind of bombastic spectacle that Hollywood of the late ’50s and early ’60s favored, noting in particular the technical and theatrical skill depicted in the expansive, bloody battle scenes. On the other hand, critics have said that the film fails to delve enough into the psychology of a war tyrant and his love story.
What the mainstream media says about Napoleon
Variety’s Peter Debrugecelebrated Scott’s visual prowess in writing the battle scenes in Toulon: “It’s not often that a filmmaker manages to offer a picture of war that audiences haven’t seen before, and this first example sets a high bar.”
“From the master of the modern epic comes an undeniably impressive technical achievement,” he wrote elsewhere, before noting Phoenix’s “strangely anti-charismatic” portrayal of the military tactician.
Empire critic Catherine Bray, Collin noted a perhaps unintentionally funny tone to the film (“Phoenix’s prickly attitude makes his nuttier lines land well”). Bray wrote: “It would be going too far to describe it absolutely as a comedy, but in David Scarpa’s script, Scott’s direction, Claire Simpson and Sam Restivo’s pacing editing, and Joaquin Phoenix’s deadpan performance, the momentum of compensate and the fun is strong.”
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian critic, was particularly enthralled with Phoenix’s central performance. “But for Phoenix he is the arch satirist and the smiling mastermind, the outsider, the brilliant observer and exploiter of other people’s weaknesses, the proto-capitalist businessman, who seizes power, boosts confidence and reinforces printed paper money. Later people could be nicknamed the Napoleon of crime, but the Napoleon of Phoenix already is,” he wrote.
Dabid Elrich, from IndieWire, noted in its B score that Napoleon is a film that takes on the “enormous ambitions” of its star to his detriment; ambitions that “have long been subsumed by a film so lost in its epic scope.”
He also wrote that the “chemistry-free” sex scenes between Napoleon and Joséphine that are “played for laughs” are “enough to make you wish the film would commit more fully to psychosexual power plays.”
Napoleon will be released in theaters on November 23, and a four-hour director’s cut will come to Apple TV+ at a later date. The theatrical edition lasts 157 minutes.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
