Being out of commission the past few days has enabled me to enjoy more movies and books than I would normally. Having a few DVDs I've never viewed, I decided now was the ideal time. First up: Kingdom of Heaven, a Ridley Scott-directed epic set during the Crusades.
Kingdom of Heaven is the story of Balian (Orlando Bloom), a French blacksmith who's just lost his wife and son. His unknown father (Liam Neeson) turns up one day, says "I'm rich and I'm your dad, why don't you come fight in the Crusades with me." Balian says, "cool," and joins him. They go down to the Holy Land, encounter friends and foes on both sides of the conflict, and act valiantly, rally the people, blah blah blah.
As you've no doubt gathered, I didn't care for this one. The fight scenes were okay, but having a rudimentary historical knowledge of the period, I found a lot to pick on. The story and characters seemed weak, many plot points implausible, and overall, this one just didn't do it for me.
Rating: C-
This film didn't do much for me on the first viewing either, but when I got the director's cut, I really enjoyed the plot and characters better. That sucker runs for like four hours, but is a much better experience. So much so that it comes close to being a favorite of mine.
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