Napoleon - Review

Nov 25, 2023, 7:25 AM

Got a chance to see Napoleon last night, and sadly, can only give it a mediocre review.

Napoleon isn't really a bad movie, it's just not a particularly good one, either. Though, I can't really put my finger on why. It just seems to lack any heart, or soul.

First, it's not a military movie, nor is it a love story, nor is it an action movie, nor a thriller. It just sort of plods on for 2-1/2 hours, without any passion, till it ends. No real highs or lows, all very subdued, even when the material it covers was anything but...revolution, war, adultery, etc.

On the plus side, it's beautifully filmed; the atmosphere and lighting are great, the scenery is great, the period costumes and settings are on point. It's a fantastically produced movie, it just has no heart.

You get a fly-by of a lot of major events in France from the Revolution till Napoleon's exile. Not much depth into anything, which might have been the problem - it just seems like a surface skimming of a lot of great stuff. Maybe it's too Epic without any depth.

About 40% of the movie is French internal and external politics...which could have been a great movie in itself.
About 40% of the movie is Napoleon and Josphine...which could have been a great movie in itself.
And about 20% is some impressive looking, but ultimately shallow, stock, and sometimes inaccurate battle scenes...even though a pure military movie would have been great. I mean, that is what the guy is known for.

All of which leaves us with a rather bland treatment of one of the most influential people in European history. A man so hated by everyone non-French that he was considered the Anti-Christ in his own time. There's the little demon who kept Europe in perpetual war for 20 years up in the clouds.

So it ends up being like a book with a nice cover. It all looks great, but when you're done reading, you didn't really learn much. And to top it all off, not a single tid to be seen. Oh well, at least that leaves hope that someone in the future might do Napoleon's story with some pizzaz some day.