Here is My Movie Review of Napoleon
So basically what happens is that it tells the History of Napoleon Bonaparte who was the emperor of France who fell in love with his first wife Josephine and shows the rise and fall of Napoleon How he fought in the French Revolution. That is basically what the story is. I have to say the storyline in this movie In concept it should be really good because about Napoleon, the most Infamous person in France who killed millions of people But the movie just water it down and doesn't really do much with it.
The acting in this movie is not that good but for some reason there are some okay performances but overall does have to be one of the Worst acted films of 2023 well not the absolute worst acted film of 2023 that will be Ghosted this one does come pretty close.
Now let's talk about Joaquin Phoenix in the film. Now he is a really terrific actor. I liked him in Joker and I liked him in Her. But in this film he is really bad as Napoleon Bonaparte Now there are people who somewhat praise his performance and I will admit there are some good moments in the film where Joaquin Phoenix does deliver some good lines but the biggest problem is that he is way too old for this character because Napoleon died in his late '30s Joaquin Phoenix is in his '50s. I feel like when he was way younger Jack Nicholson would have made way batter Napoleon and would probably give a much better performance. In fact there was going to be a movie with Jack Nicholson called Napoleon and it'll be made by Stanley Kubrick. But unfortunately the film fell apart during production and it was scrapped as a result. Now the character of Napoleon Bonaparte Is really weird because Well yeah he does kill a lot of people in this film and he did abuse his wife Josephine which is accurate to what He did In real life. For some reason this movie just makes fun of the fact that Napoleon is short, that's all the film does with him and the character. Probably the best moment with Napoleon Bonaparte It's where he leans his Troops In the battle during the French Revolution. Not only is it really shocking But it makes sense because in real life Napoleon Bonaparte Led his trips into battle during the French Revolution. It is probably the most Memorable moment in the film. The chemistry between him and Vanessa Kirby, Rupert Everett, Ben Miles.
Vanessa Kirby plays Napoleon Bonaparte´s wife Empress Josephine. I have to say she was Okay as this character. she gives a good performance but it's just not that memorable. It feels like she's just sleepwalking through her performance. Now the character of Empress Josephine is somewhat accurate to how she was in real life because she was Napoleon Bonaparte's First wife. Who suffered a lot of abuse towards him she still stayed with him. But again I feel like the character is just really bland and Unmemorable because he's just there to go on an expedition with her husband Napoleon Bonaparte. The scene where Empress Josephine Fall in love with Napoleon Bonaparte Is an okay scene because it is somewhat accurate to how they meant in real life. The chemistry between her and Joaquin Phoenix is decent.
Probably the only standout performance in this entire film is Rupert Everett as Arthur Wellesley because it feels like he was the only actor that would actually cast really well. Also it feels like he was the only actor that was actually having fun in the film. Now the character Arthur Wellesley is somewhat accurate to How he was in real life because he was the Duke of Wellington. He also helped Napoleon Bonaparte Fought in his final War before he was killed. The scene where he is talking to Napoleon Bonaparte about how they are going to the French Revolution Somewhat accurate Because Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to win the French Revolution and kill everybody that was in that war. It is Probably one of the more memorable things in the film. The chemistry between him and Joaquin Phoenix is decent.
Ben Miles plays Napoleon Bonaparte’s advisor Armand De Caulaincout In the film. I have to say He was really a doll in this movie. He just gives a really boring performance as this character. Now Armand De Caulaincourt as a character is somewhat accurate to how he was in real life. He is the advisor to Napoleon Bonaparts who answers to his every command. But that's it he just gives exposition and does whatever Napoleon Bonaparts tells him to do. The scene where he is talking to Napoleon Bonaparte comes off as very Filler heavy. I mean sure it is accurate to what he does in real life because he gave Napoleon Bonaparte advice. The chemistry between him and Joaquin Phoenix is okay.
The directing by Ridley Scott is pretty bad because he is a really Terrific director because he directed The Martian which is my favorite film that he has directed. He also directed the first Alien movie. But with this movie I don't know what he wanted this film to be a historical war drama about the French Revolution or the life of Napoleon Bonaparte. I don't know now he did get a few things right when Napoleon Bonaparte, such as him, wanted to win the French Revolution. The way he Led his troops into the battle was really accurate. But he also does some weird things. In the film. He Characters in the film make fun How short Napoleon Bonaparte is and how short he is. It's really weird and not really interesting. To be honest I think they should go down like David Fincher because I think a David Fincher Napoleon film would have made a lot more sense because he knows how to make really awesome biopic movies like Zodiac With Jake Gyllenhaal and The Social Network with Jesse Eisenberg. I think he would have made this film better. But overall I think Ridley Scott did a lackluster job of directing the film Because it just feels like you didn't do enough research about the historical figure and the way he cast Joaquin Phoenix was also a really bad idea because again he is way too old to play Napoleon Bonaparte.
So in conclusion I didn't really like this film because Well the concept of A movie about the rise and fall on Napoleon has a lot of potential and there are some interesting ideas in this film it just fall apart due to Joaquin Phoenix's acting because mentioned this twice already but mention again he is way too old to be this character I think if you were going to cast someone to be Napoleon they should have cast a very young Jack Nicholson and if that Stanley Kubrick Napoleon film did happen I think that one made a much better film than the Napoleon film we got. Now there are some good aspects to this film. I will admit all the war sequences are amazing; they are all well shot. The cinematography is very grimy and dirty just like how a war film should be. Also there are some moments where Joaquin Phoenix does give almost a decent performance and the movie just makes fun of how short Napoleon is. This is probably up there with Peter Pan and Wendy as one of the worst films of 2023. This is also probably in my top 30 least favorite Films of all time. Also this movie is probably up there with Chaos walking as one of the worst films of the 2020s because of how much of a mess the film is. Also if you want to watch a better interpretation of Napoleon then go watch the movie Time Bandits because even though Napoleon is in a few scenes he is really accurate to his real life counterpart that film gets him right completely. Also if you look hard enough there are bits and pieces of a good Napoleon movie In here somewhere But the problem is that it doesn't really execute the concept Napoleon really well and Joaquin Phoenix It's just completely miscast in this film. I say Just skip this film and go watch Guy Richie´s the Covenant with Jake Gyllenhaal because you'll have a much better time With that film because it gets everything right about the war in Afghanistan. Well this film gets some stuff right but it mostly gets a lot stuff wrong. I give this movie a 3/10.
