We have two octogenarians out here in the modern cinema landscape. With Scorsese taking up a lot of the mind space because of superhero movie fans’ issues with his feelings about the MCU and Superhero movies over on the side, Ridley is just out here putting out films. With Scorsese saying he’s worried about time, Ridley’s actions feel more like a filmmaker worried about time. After making two films that have a pretty divided consensus, he’s back working with Joaquin Phoenix on Napoleon. This is a not exactly historically accurate take on the historical figure. I can tell you that when I saw it, I only knew of one other critic I talked to who liked it. I saw this boldly – this is a dude movie, just like Gladiator was a dude movie. It is high quality, dude, but dude nonetheless. This film covers Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise after the French Revolution until his death. Vanessa Kirby plays Joséphine Napoleon’s wife and in the film true love. So this movie is about love, lover spats, huge violent battle scenes, and a guy trying to get what he wants in the world. Shoot, this ain’t no different than DePalma’s Scarface.
It’s the way they frame, and Phoenix plays Napoleon as this arrogant, insecure genius. To connect it in modern terms, it’s like looking at early Kanye. The folks done cut off mad folks’ heads, but they also beefing with the English, so Napoleon has to show out and prove anyone in the French military can’t do what he does. This first battle and the others are a bit too washed out color-wise, but it’s still easy to see, even with it being a night scene. The first battle is handled very well as it takes time to show him figuring out his opponents and how to take them out, and then the big huge battle happens, and it’s like what you’d expect from Scott with battles, as you’ve seen from his earlier work. I guess for some, it’s how it handles the non-war parts of the film. This Napoleon is pretty awkward around people; you can see how he’s uncomfortable around these people and doesn’t fit in but also feels as if he should be there. They are not better than him; he wears the chip on his shoulder of being Corsican and how that is held against him.
The film also has a lot of humor; while it’s not a comedy, it’s the humor of the characters reacting to each other and their situation, and this movie has some great quotables. There’s a moment in the film when Napoleon is taking over the government, and the legislature is like, not with it, and they attack him. He runs out with his brother, and the scene is tense and serious. and his brother is talking to the soldiers, getting them ramped up to go in there and get these folks to bend them knees, and Phoenix and Napolean squeals out, “They’re trying to KILL ME!” I swear to god I died in the theater. It’s so honest; he’s so shocked and shook he can’t say anything else. I think Kirby does well working with him as they feel like an utterly messy marriage with barbs thrown about and a tug of war about who has the power in the relationship. They do show there’s love between the two even as the grasp of power ends up being more important than the health of the relationship.
There does feel like some of the editing here does cut some stuff out, and I can’t help but think about hearing about his possible director’s cut on Apple TV+. It has me excited to watch this again. This film entertained the hell out of me. Every time I think about it brings a smile to my face. I’m a mark for Ridley Scott, and I’m not ashamed of it. Napoleon is an interesting historical epic I feel fitting of its subject, and it made to be more crowd-pleasing than self-serious. It’s a cinematic meal worth your time.
Score: B
