Community Rating
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: David Scarpa
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim
Runtime: 2h 38m
MPAA: R
Released: November 22, 2023
It is a tall task to wrap up the life of a figure like Napoleon in two and a half hours. The 2023 film from Ridley Scott does a decent but ultimately disappointing job. Ranging from brilliant to middling, the confused Napoleon finds an unfortunate parallel with its namesake.
The biggest and best takeaway from this must be its presentation of the battles. Dariusz Wolski crafts beautiful cinematography for these sequences. He and Ridley Scott work together to create grand scenes of epic combat. This is where the brutality of war is shown alongside the strategic cunning of Napoleon.
This look into the strategic brilliance of Napoleon is the strongest piece of his own character arc narratively. It’s very interesting to see others adapt to his battlefield strategy while he struggles to gain a new edge. The successes and failures on the battle field mirror the personal struggles of the Emperor. It is with the home life of Napoleon where issues begin to arise in the film.
Ridley Scott and writer David Scarpa have tried to show the entire life of Napoleon from the execution of Marie-Antoinette to his exile in Saint Helena. Because of this the story never sticks to one time frame for too long. This keeps Napoleon moving at a great speed, but works to cheapen some of his most important life events.
Without really focusing on a particular moment there is a lack intensity for what should have been emotionally charged scenes. For instance, Napoleon attempts to show his troubled relationship with his first wife Joséphine. Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby pull the most out of these roles as they can. They provide impassioned performances that attempt to rival the grandness of the battles. The problem is we move through their lives at such pace that we miss a chance for greater development, making it feel hollow instead.
Even worse are the supporting cast of characters. While again, well acted, they are paper thin. Even rival foreign leaders and dignitaries that prove to be huge consequentially to Napoleon are barely developed. Rarely are character motivations, outside of Napoleon himself, explored. These characters mostly exist as a revolving set of faces. They move around the life of Napoleon as ally, enemy, or both. Yet even the double-cross of a former ally is met with the same intrigue as reading the morning paper.
Thankfully Napoleon is filled with beautiful sets and costume design. The representation of Napoleonic France is wondrous to behold. Characters walk through gorgeous estates and palaces. It’s puzzling however that these shots are often presented with the same muted film grading of the battles. While this works well for warfare, some more color and brightness could have benefited Napoleon’s France to give more tonal contrast throughout the film.
Fortunately the soundtrack to Napoleon is quite good and provides tones of its own. The tracks from Martin Phipps combine strings, choral arrangements, and tasteful electronics. They particularly add to the scope to the largest moments for Napoleon presented on screen. One memorable scene featured the revelation of a careful battle plan from Napoleon as it unfolded. The epic score paired with this added greatly to the experience.
Ridley Scott has tried to create a film that explores all the important moments in Napoleon’s life. It works as a visual artwork representing these specific pockets of time. However it lacks narrative focus or emotional connection that would allow Napoleon to be more impactful for the viewer. It feels as though another hour, or maybe even a limited series of a few episodes, would be needed to properly tell the story at hand.
★★★☆☆