Kingdom of Heaven

I went to see this movie on Saturday, May 7 2005 at Coral Ridge Mall on its opening weekend.

For the background of the film, Ridley Scott is the producer and director, a man well-known for his Gladiator, Troy, and Alexander films and a veteran at historical epics. The cast for the movie includes Orlando Bloom as the main character Balian, Liam Neeson as Sir Godfrey, and Jeremy Irons as Tiberias.

The film starts in France in 1184 as the city of Jerusalem has been held by the Christians under a king for around 100 years. Balian is a blacksmith, and he is about to meet a nobleman (Liam Neeson) who will call him to join the Crusade to Jerusalem not as a Crusader but as a protector. Balion performs an awful deed at the beginning, so he does join this call to trek to Jerusalem to cleanse his soul and the soul of his deceased wife. He is not a scholarly man but one of action. He isn't a man who speaks much about God, but he thinks a great deal of honor. This story of god and crusades becomes more a story of people and how to navigate amongst them to help them and save yourself by not saving yourself. Does a man who saves a life become forgiven for taking one?

All in all, the film moves a bit quickly early on, but already at a staggering 2 hours and 25 minutes, it is understandable on the short timeframe to get events moving. Besides this reduced time at the beginning for character development, the rest of the movie is perfection. It is not a movie to take lightly either as it contains thoughts on morality and religions without being heavy-handed in portraying them. It isn't a movie to likely make most Christians (or Muslims) terribly pleased. It isn't really a movie purely about religion; it is more a movie about people, power, and day-to-day decisions that form historical events.

The best parts of the film are some of the battle scenes, and this is surprising for me to say given that I do not enjoy battle scenes a great deal nor movies with a lot of them. This movie is different. The battle scenes are terrifying in some aspects. I felt chills in some of the interactions more than I have in any recent horror movie. Even the king of Jerusalem (Edward Norton) is slightly macabre in his mask to hide his leprosy that appears more like a mask of death that some cultures would have used to bury the dead.

My rating for this film is unreservedly a great with it being the best film I have went to this year. It is worth seeing in the theatre, it is worth owning, and it is even worth seeing again. I will even go so far as to say that it is better than "The Lord of the Rings" movies with Orlando Bloom in those (as Legolas), although I might well be harried by others who disagree wholeheartedly with that statement.

Please feel free to comment on this review or on the movie itself at the forum thread devoted to it at this location.