By Gary

A Ridley Scott historical epic, Napoleon surpasses battle scenes of Gladiator.

Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix.

Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte’s relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine (Vanessa Kirby), showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.

Ridley Scott did a very good job directing here, with the battle scenes being some of the best ever put to screen.

The movie also captures France in that time period really well with the costumes and set design.

The story does an ok job at telling the story of Napoleon’s life, but it doesn’t feel like there’s really enough there to understand who he is as a person.

Joaquin Phoenix was ok in the role, but he’s had way better performances in movies like Gladiator and Joker.

Vanessa Kirby as Josephine absolutely stole the show here.

She was phenomenal as Josephine, and I think she was the best part of the movie.

Speaking of Josephine, I actually really liked the romance part of the movie.

I thought it was the most interesting part and I liked how the two communicated by letters.

Overall, it’s an entertaining movie that has a lot of really great things in it but it’s rushed script and inconsistent lead character hold it back.

My Rating: 8/10