Napoleon
Year: 2023
Rating: R
Length: 158 minutes / 2.63 hours
On paper, this movie had a lot going for it. Ridley Scott, partnering with Joaquin Phoenix again after the wildly successful Gladiator (2000) felt like this was a surefire entertaining film. Instead, the few scenes of military action were the only things that made this movie worth watching. Usually, when I watch a biopic about a famous individual like Napoleon Bonaparte, I’d expect something eyebrow raising that I didn’t know before. Napoleon is not that kind of film, as it is filled with history that I already knew, and I don’t consider myself a scholar of Napoleon.
A lot of biopics tend to either show the genius of their titular character or cast light on their odd behavior (despite their angelic public persona). Napoleon has moments of both, each of which undercuts the effectiveness of the other. I can’t take his military success seriously when he has such peculiar bedroom habits, and I find his weird behaviors inconsistent with the occasional moments of strategic genius. That he was successful at all seems a tremendous stroke of luck. Ultimately, Napoleon is not a likable character, which makes watching him for over 2.5 hours a tedious endeavor.
Napoleon seemed to drive home that Ridley Scott is a talented director if he has great source material. Unique screenplays and adaptations like Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Gladiator (2000), Matchstick Men (2003), or The Martian (2015) remain as iconic high marks of his filmography. But with every standout movie, there’s a Robin Hood (2010), Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), or Napoleon that pulls from mostly known public domain stories. Next time, I think I might use this guide to determine whether I’ll use his name recognition before watching one of his movies.
A disappointing and generic history lesson about an odd Frenchman, I give Napoleon 2.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
