KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (2005)

Ridley Scott has crafted another fantastic epic with Kingdom Of Heaven and continues to prove with every new film he creates that he is one of the best directors around. Kingdom of Heaven is easily one of his darkest films to date, and it ranks up there with his other classics.

As to be expected from a Ridley Scott movie, Kingdom Of Heaven is shot beautifully. The visuals are spectacular and have a dark, haunting quality about them. Most of Ridley's films have this same quality, but Kingdom Of Heaven is especially bleak. When dealing with subject matter such as religion, being bleak and depressing is the only honest way to go. Muslims and Christians, Muslims especially, were pouncing on this film before it was even made. About 10 years ago Arnold Schwarzenegger and Paul Verhoeven (director of Robocop and Total Recall) were supposed to team up for a crusade movie but when religious groups found out, they started to protest. The project never took off for whatever reason, but it showed what a filmmaker might be up against when making this type of film. With this point in mind, Scott is to be commended for having the guts to do a movie dealing with the crusades. He has nothing to prove in film, yet he continues to take chances and push back the boundaries of cinematic conformity.
Orlando Bloom turns in a good performance as Balian, the strong yet quiet blacksmith turned warrior, proving to Bloom's many critics that he can carry a film on his own instead of playing bridesmaid to thespian big-hitters. The story focuses on the character of Balian who decides to join the crusade and go to Jerusalem to absolve his sins and those of his wife who killed herself, damning her sole, according to Christian beliefs to burn in hell for eternity. Balian's transgression is the grave sin of murder, so with a price on his head as a wanted fugitive, the crusades look like his only option.

The film does an excellent job of being fair to both sides of the conflict. There are good Christians and there are evil Christians. The same goes for the Muslims. Ghassan Massoud's portrayal of the intelligent and honorable leader Saladin is excellent. Edward Norton's performance as King Baldwin, the mask wearing leader suffering from Leprosy, is a memorable one. The cast as a whole are all fabulous, helped along by some interesting dialogue thanks to William Monahan robust script.
The battle sequences are fantastic and the wide shots of the carnage are simply breath taking. The last battle in the movie is like the huge battle in LOTR: Return Of The King, but done in a more gritty and realistic fashion. On a slightly negative side, there was one plot point that was a little off track and comes about when Balian has the opportunity to save thousands of lives if he marries Sibylla, sister of King Baldwin, and played nicely by Eva Green. Balian would become King and he would work towards peace rather than start the maniacal war that the evil Guy de Lusignan eventually and foolishly starts. I understood that Balian didn't want to enter into this marriage as this would spell the end for Guy and Balian didn't want to be responsible for his death, but it doesn't make moral sense as he sins by sleeping with Sibylla, Guy's wife, and he would have saved tens of thousands of lives if he did become King. The movie does point this out, so it's not an accidental mistake, but I still feel it's a mistake in logic which throws unnecessary question marks into an otherwise solid story. The movie also feels a little jumpy at times like there are scenes missing but I did recently read an interview with Ridley Scott where he stated that an extended version would be put out on DVD so perhaps this might go part way to improving the flow somewhat.

What's most important about Kingdom Of Heaven is that it points out the stupidity and insanity that religion instills in many people. To claim to be religious and to do violence on religion's behalf is the epitome of hypocrisy and ignorance. To do any sort of violence and to claim to be religious is just ludicrous. With religion, you take the whole thing or you take nothing. You can't take parts that you want and make up your own nonsense. It makes Kingdom Of Heaven more relevant because this is what's still going on in the world right now, and there are many sides guilty once again.