Napoleon

At 86 years old, legendary director Ridley Scott is still doing films, and man oh man does he not disappoint! “Napoleon” proves why he’s still such a good director! “Napoleon” follows the military commander's origins and his swift, ruthless climb to the emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine. 

Let’s start by addressing the major “issue” to many people in this film which is the plot. I honestly don’t care about historical accuracies when it comes to these films. As long as the writing and the story are good, I am more than satisfied which leads me to my issue with this film. This is NOT a story about Napoleon Bonaparte! It’s mainly the story of Napoleon and Josephine’s relationship which is a bit disappointing in my opinion. I expected this film to fully dive into Bonaparte’s character and mentality. Don’t get me wrong here but the film barely scratched that surface! Despite this one issue, I still enjoyed the story told here. I think that the 4-hour cut that will be released soon will address that specific issue. 

On that thought let’s talk about those performances here! Wow! Joaquin Phoenix delivers a phenomenal performance as the emperor but who blew me away was Vanesa Kirby! Kirby delivers a mesmerizing performance as Josephine and excels at her role. Last but not least, I have to praise those spectacular action sequences. Those sequences were thrilling, and brutal and perfectly portrayed the high stakes in the battle. All of those sequences couldn’t have succeeded without the help of the cinematography and the score. Wolski’s beautiful cinematography as well as Philipps’s score amplified those action sequences. Despite some issues with the plot, Napoleon excels with the help of Kirby’s performance and the tremendous score!