Alexander Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT msn DOT com)November 11th, 2006
ALEXANDER (2004)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Two stars
"Alexander" is a bloated, beautiful, muddled mess of an epic. There
are images and performances of searing power, and there is just enough
melodrama to make fans of lavish epics puke.
Blonde-haired Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell) was one of the
greatest of all conquerors, a visionary whose initially principal focus
was to conquer Persia. Yep, he conquers and fight the Persians in
the battle of Gaugamela but his sights go elsewhere - he wants
the entire Persian empire. He intends on conquering every land
leading to India in a journey and several battles that end up dividing
his troops and losing many lives for the sake of...well, nothing. Almost
everyone turns against Alexander and conspire to kill him by
poisoning him.
Alexander's father is the one-eyed Philip of Macedonia (Val Kilmer),
a drunk who had strong aspirations to overtake the Persians but was
also killed. Most of the blame is attributed to Alexander's seductive
mother, Queen Olympias (Angelina Jolie), who has an affinity for snakes
and claims Alexander's real father is Zeus (Huh?). It is clear from the
start
that Olympias hates Philip and wants Alexander to be king, but to
what end? Political ambition or just pure hatred of Philip? Seems like
those scenes were on the cutting room floor, like most of the movie.
Oliver Stone throws everything into this epic except the kitchen sink.
There are battle scenes with war elephants tearing apart crowds of
soldiers, hundreds of arrows fired into the air (a cliché by now), and
an eagle's perspective of these widescreen battles. Some blood and
gore here and there, though relatively restrained judging from the
blood-soaked standards set by "Gladiator."
The performances run hot and cold. Angelina Jolie easily gives the
best performance, reigning in her almost Transylvanian accent and
her seductive presence ten fold (you almost expect her to bare
fangs at some point). Colin Farrell screams and hollers, but he
never truly inhabits the character. I hate to say it but Farell
humanizes the character so much that he comes off as more wimpy
than a commanding, persuasive conqueror. Anthony Hopkins as
the narrator Ptolemy seems ready to keel over, whereas Christopher
Plummer handles his Aristotle role with exceptional clarity. Other
actors such as Rosario Dawson, who is criminally wasted as Roxane,
Alexander's Persian wife, and Jared Leto as Alexander's close
friend Hephaistion are thrust into the film's jumbled,
flashback-driven narrative without much conviction or need.
Vangelis's beautiful score alleviates some of the film's faults and
lack of cohesion but not by much.
I appreciate what Oliver Stone has attempted here - an intellectual
epic far removed from the cartoonish theatrics of "Gladiator" or
"Troy." Some scenes are awesomely staged, but just as many are
flat and monotonous. Stone hasn't placed much faith on the
character of Alexander or his bisexuality - he is more spirited
and engaged with Angelina's Olympias character than anyone
else in the entire movie. Whether it was studio intervention or
not, Stone doesn't make this the risky venture we expect from
him, and that is a shame.
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