Plot: During the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte quickly rises through the ranks. In 1799 he seized control over France and started defying neighboring European countries, hoping to expand his kingdom. Meanwhile, he tries to keep his marriage on the rails, which isn't that easy as his wife is prone to cheat.
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May 05, 2024
Ridley Scott's Napoleon biopic is exactly what I feared it would be. You've got a stern, single-expression Joaquin Phoenix running through the highlights of Napoleon's life, and that's all there is to it. Drama is alternated with some battlefield scenes, while all of that is stretched well beyond the 2-hour mark.
I didn't care for Phoenix's performance, the cinematography was quite dull and dreary, the score was generic and the film had major pacing issues. It's an extremely old-fashioned biopic in every sense of the word, but that's par for the course when looking at Scott's oeuvre. Forgettable.