Ben-Hur is a spirited remake of the 1959 remake of the 1925 remake of the 1907 film. It is a classic 'revenge' story that was made for the medium of film, even though the original novel predates cinema itself, and one that stands worthily beside other revenge/redemption tales such as The Count of Monte Cristo, The Man in the Iron Mask and Les Miserables. I will always make time to go and see each and every remake of all of these four classics. There was a small amount of shakycam, likely to make up for the small budget for battle scenes, but otherwise director Timur Bekmambetov is ideally suited for the action rich plot and Jack Huston plays a noble kick-ass Judah Ben-Hur. I wish it could have been longer, perhaps 3 hours, because the 125 minute running time seemd a bit compressed to generate the full epic feel this property deserves. The chariot race was filmed fantastically, and there's a small scene right at the beginning of the film that shocked me more than anything I've seen at the movies this year. Very nicely done. *B+*

Now that I've written my review, I'm having a browse through the commercial reviews and can recommend this especially well-informed & well-written review that gives a fair assessment of this latest incarnation of Ben-Hur.

Though I'd add the context of this quote from the review on Roger Ebert's website:
Plus, for the unrepentant haters, I'll link to one of the negative reviews:
Personally, I dug the assured eloquent Yoda portrayal of Jesus in this version.

Though its creators can claim right and left it is just another interpretation of the 19th-century Lew Wallace novel, the new film version of Ben-Hur will be compared first and foremost to the 1959 adaptation, widely regarded as a cinematic milestone on the rarefied level of Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, and The Godfather, though I believe its grandeur is tempered by certain wooden and/or sanctimonious elements. And those comparisons will not be favorable, but I believe there is at least a minor case to be made for this lean B-movie variation on the story of a Jewish prince who becomes a galley slave and then a champion charioteer during the lifetime of Jesus Christ. It is well-performed by Jack Huston (a quieter and more subtly tortured Judah Ben-Hur than Charlton Heston could ever have played) and Toby Kebbell, portraying moral compromise and a tendency toward venality without mustache-twirling theatricality as Messala, imagined here as Judah's treacherous adopted brother rather than just a close friend. The obligatory chariot race is spectacularly visceral and features inspired use of point-of-view shots, and there is also an impressive rain-swept naval battle. There are, alas, several flaws, too: an expanded role for Jesus (Rodrigo Santoro) is oddly shoehorned in, saccharine, and clearly coming from an avaricious place (the almighty faith-based dollar!) rather than one of artistic conviction. And outside of the action sequences, director Timur Bekmambetov has an unfortunate tendency to settle for functional, slightly bland medium shots rather than aiming for beauty and splashily showcasing the production design.

B-

Ben-Hur

It is a good thing that I went in with low expectations. I was expecting a complete and utter disaster with bad acting, shoddy camerawork, shoehorned in jokes, and a generally TV-level production. Three out of four ain't bad! But I was prepared so it did not bother me. Over the course of the movie, as I became invested, I even forgot about it. Basically, it's not a bad film. Jack Huston does a decent job of playing Ben-Hur, while Toby Kebbell enjoys playing his frowning brother. But we did not need yet another remake of this story, which is just too simple for modern audiences. It does nothing new or creative. It plods along nicely, but each frame needs to amaze and instead it just exists. And its digitized look makes it feel small and worthless. Simply put; if you want to see Ben-Hur but dislike older films, see Gladiator.

C