[MOVIE] Elizabeth: The Golden Age

[Emperor]

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal)

Starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Samantha Morton, Abbie Cornish

Directed by Shekar Kaphur (Elizabeth, The Four Feathers); Written by William Nicholson (First Light, Gladiator), Michael Hirst (Elizabeth, "The Tudors" on Showtime, upcoming 1906)

Genre: Historic, Period Piece, Epic

Rated PG-13

Tagline: "Before 'The Queen' There Was 'THE QUEEN'!" (No, not really, but it sounds a lot more exciting than the real tagline, which is "Woman. Warrior. Queen.")

 

Plot Summary: Ten years after gaining the crown, the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) is facing conflict on all sides, from the Spanish King Philip who plans an invasion, and from Mary, Queen of Scotts (Samantha Morton)

 

A Review:

 

could already tell from the trailers that I've seen (including some footage way back in March at Showest), that Shekhar Kapur's follow-up to his Oscar-nominated 1998 masterpiece Elizabeth would be a visual treat. What I didn't know was that those visuals would often be so overblown and overpowering that they'd detract from the continuation of that story, focusing on an older and more experienced Queen Elizabeth, a role reprised by Cate Blanchett. Well into her reign, the "Virgin Queen" must seek out a suitor in order to bear an heir, while contending with conspiracies to kill her from Mary, Queen of Scots, and an impending invasion by the Spanish armada. Amidst all this turmoil, the queen becomes the third cog in a love triangle between Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) and her hand-maiden Bess (Abbie Cornish).

 

The first time we see the older Elizabeth, she's wearing a bright orange wig to match her dress with her face covered thick with white make-up, and we immediately understand how she's able to command such respect with her presence. Over the course of the film, we'll see her wearing many other impressive outfits, but we'll also see her out of the make-up and lavish robes, when she's at her most vulnerable and human.

 

The chemistry and attraction between Elizabeth and Clive Owen's Walter Raleigh is almost instant, but her place as the country's ruler prevents her from putting herself in the position to accept Raleigh's attentions. Instead, he becomes involved with her hand-maiden Bess, another wonderful performance by Abbie Cornish, which creates an awkward love triangle where the queen feels like she can't control her own destiny while manipulating the destiny of others.

 

While Blanchett gives another brilliant performance that keeps you riveted to her every move, the movie itself is a disappointment, since I was really hoping for greatness and perfection. It's by no means a terrible movie, but it certainly suffers from Kaphur's efforts to make every shot be a beautiful artistic painting, but these perfect images are often done at the sake of the movie's pacing. It's a shame, because all of the performances are solid including Owen and Geoffrey Rush, and Kaphur has created a terrific character piece about Elizabeth's personal life, but it's often detracted from by cutting to the Spaniards' plans to attack England. By the time it actually gets to this epic battle, it feels almost unnecessary, because by that point, you've become enrapt in Elizabeth's personal struggles to find happiness.

 

Given the chance to create epic sea battles that might have created excitement in anyone bored with the pageantry in Elizabeth's court, Kaphur instead continues his desire to create gorgeous perfectly-painted images, often by showing scenes in slow motion. On top of that, he starts to roll out every single cliche in the historic war epic book, including a scene of Blanchett egging the British troops on horse before their battle ala Braveheart (and every movie since), as well as a shot of the scene on the cliffs overlooking the devastation at sea, which seemed much more suitable for 300 than this.

 

The score is quite gorgeous, one that would be great to listen to on CD repeatedly, but it just never stops even for a second. It's completely overpowering as it tries to make every word uttered more important and powerful than necessary.

 

After Kaphur finishes showing these glorious battle images, we return for a brief epilogue to the relationship between Elizabeth and Raleigh, but it never feels like a satisfying conclusion, since the film is suddenly over quicker than one might expect, leaving Elizabeth's story open, presumably for a third movie.

 

In fairness, Kaphur's return to Elizabethan times is impeccably shot and acted, but it's essentially a great-looking cliche-filled period film that carries very little weight or emotional impact.

 

Rating: 7/10

 

 

Why I Should See It: Shekhar Kapur returns to his greatest triumph with an even bigger historic epic reuniting two of the main actors from the Oscar-nominated original.

Why Not: Critics are claiming that the movie is too big and bombastic, which moviegoing audiences might appreciate, but they're just as likely to be bored.

Projections: $7 to 9 million opening on its way to $25 million total.

 

[ironcross]

i relly want to see this movie, it looks relly good. but i do agree that from the trailers it dose look a little bit over dramatic.