Kingdom of Heaven is the most frustrating movie of the year, not because it was so thoroughly bad, but worse: it had enough nuggets of greatness that you could get a good sense of the much better film that could have been made and I was left feeling truly sorry for the many talented people who worked on this misguided movie, some of whom put in some great work and whose efforts were wasted.

The first 20 or more minutes are so recycled that I practically expected a Greenpeace stamp of approval to show up in the corner of the screen. We have the long lost father, the losing of loved ones (apparently real fun only begins in Hollywood after your wife or parents die), the mentor/student relationship, complete with the obligatory mentor death. The character of Balian, played by Orlando Bloom, is taken through a series of preposterous events at a rapid speed, as if the movie is saying "There was this blacksmith Balian, yadda yadda, he's a Knight now."

In the space of a few minutes, Balian buries his wife, learns and accepts without blinking that this stranger who claims to be the Baron of Ibelin is his father, commits murder, gets trained as an expert fighter, fights a group of soldiers, travels on a ship that gets wrecked in a storm, meets a stranger who he duels and gets led to Jerusalem. It's easy to fault Bloom as an actor, it's certainly clear now that he isn't a great one, but after seeing the even more bland Christian Bale in Batman Begins I can't fault just Bloom here. An actor can work for an audience if he at least looks the part and is directed well and has interesting lines to say. Part of the problem in Kingdom was that Bloom was simply miscast. Bloom's Balian looks unlikely to even lift a Crusader era sword, he might have a hard time lifting the scabbard and while his acting is monotonous, I saw enough duplications of Crowe's Gladiator expressions to convince me that he was doing what Ridley Scott told him to do.

But then something unexpected happens, just when I am about to give up on the movie. Three supporting characters appear that are acted and written so well it's astonishing, it is as if they walked in from another, much better film and were attempting to stage a coup and take over this mess of movie. Edward Norton plays the King, a leper, a visually striking and original character, full of intelligence and determination. All of his scenes were magnetic even though he was behind a mask and more than probably recording his lines in a studio later. His confrontation with Saladin in person, and the following confrontation with an errant Knight, beating him and forcing him to kiss his ring was a memorable high point of Kingdom that delivered finally what we expect, something original and grand. Also good was Eva Green as Sybilla, who has a real charisma and regal bearing, convincing in her role and showing a maturity older than her years. It is hard to believe she is only 25, this actress has the talent and charm of a more experienced actress. Green is going to go places if Hollywood gives her a chance.

Then there is Ghassan Massoud who would have ended up stealing Kingdom of Heaven if he was given any more screentime. As Saladin, Massoud is that good, thoroughly inhabiting the well-written role from his looks of concern for the health of the King to his picking up a toppled cross near the end, there were many small flourishes that made his character memorable, he came across as a tower of experience and strength, an opponent you'd fear all the more because you respect him. If Kingdom of Heaven had focused on the Leper King, Sybilla and Saladin instead of Balian it would have been a much more interesting film, possibly even a great one. Those were three well acted well written and somewhat unique characters, but they are put in service of a hackneyed, pointless and weakly acted character of Balian.

So yes, it all ends up feeling like a lot of great talent and effort wasted use in search of a misguided goal, not unlike the Crusades themselves.

I can't end this review without commenting on the ending, so don't read this part if you haven't seen the film. Balian is given a choice near the end. Norton's King asks Balian to agree to having the main villain Crusader arrested and executed, with Balian marrying his wife Sybilla who is also the sister of the king. This would bring peace with Saladin and save lives. But Balian says no, he's too moral for that and won't do it. Instead he opts for a path that results in the slaughter of thousands of low ranking soldiers, many of whom were likely peasants pressed into service against their will. It's such an immoral decision by Balian that I found it hard to have any sympathy for him, he destroyed the chance at peace and condemned many people to death. He should have listened to the more experienced and wiser King, who came across as a far more moral and intelligent figure than Balian.

B

After that review you might have expected a lower grade, but this movie was like many later Kubrick movies to me in that while it didn't work as it should have, it had some memorable moments that I'll remember a long time and that is one of the main reasons I go to movies.

The first 20 or more minutes are so recycled that I practically expected a Greenpeace stamp of approval to show up in the corner of the screen.

Well, i have some questions. If the introduction that saved the film were the three side characters, what exactly in their stories was so convincing? Or was it more their performances? After you mentioned them, you kind of went into how great their characters were, but not what their characters were doing in the narrative. I haven't seen the movie, so I'm asking because I don't know.

The ending seems interesting, mostly because Blacksmiths were never offered the hands of royalty, and he was probably closer (upon starting) in staus to those who were killed by his decision than those who weren't. I like your Kubrick comment. Its something I tend to feel as well (in Kubrick, as I haven't seen KoH). That he bit off alot, something that could be equal to a whole fruit, but lost it in the chewing process somewhere. Interesting.

...It's a shame to see Neeson in all these supporting mentor roles when he's so talented.

Yeah, but he was great in Kinsey, but nobody went to see it...