Kingdom of Heaven (Scott, 2005)

A good epic is the very epitome of a cinematic experience. Amidst the exotic sets and moments of rousing glory, you taken for three hours to a world wholly different from the real—in a world where villains crackle, beauties tempt, swords flash, and heroes always win.

I begin with this paragraph because Kingdom of Heaven is not a traditional epic. Untraditional in the sense that the “hero” is not a hero, the “villain” is not a villain and the “victory” is not a victory. This is admirable endeavor on the part of director Ridley Scott, even if it keeps his film from attaining the highest peak. (This review refers to the Director’s Cut released on DVD.)

Kingdom of Heaven tells the story of Balian (Orlando Bloom), a French blacksmith who is reluctantly thrown into his role as hero. After killing the lord’s nephew, Balian is forced to go to Jerusalem with a company of Crusaders who pass his village. The film moves as a brisk pace until we get to Jerusalem, where we are introduced to the king (a masked Ed Norton), his sister Sibylla (Eva Green), and her devious husband Guy de Lusignan (Marton Czokas). As Sibylla is literally the only female character in the film, our hero aptly begins a laborious love affair with her.

Sibylla’s brother, the judicial King Baldwin, rules Jerusalem with an even hand. It has been 100 years since the Christians reclaimed Jerusalem, and there are once again seeds of a Muslim uprising led by Saladin. In retelling a battle between Christians and Muslims, Kingdom of Heaven has a political undertone that is hard to ignore. Yet Scott admirably maintains a fair and balanced approach, refusing to paint either side in broad black and white strokes. In this Kingdom of Heaven, Christians and Muslims live together largely in peace, and Saladin even sends his physicians to tend the Christian king. But recent bloodshed has stirred the pot, and all it takes is a hot-blooded firebrand to make it boil over.

Our hero, Balian, is not this firebrand. When the peace is suddenly shattered, a reluctant Balian finds himself literally and figuratively in the crossfire. Here, our hero finally steps up, and here, the film itself falls flat. Despite some thrilling battle sequences, Kingdom of Heaven never quite achieves the triumphant climax that marks an epic.

The blame lies in both the script and in Bloom’s performance. Bloom may be simply playing the character as written—inert and merely reacting—but even his rousing sequences fail to inspire. To put it plainly, Bloom's Balian is milquetoast. You've got to hand to the guy though; throughout the film, he endures all kinds of torture as he's bloodied, dirtied, and burnt. But bloodied, dirtied, and burnt milquetoast is still milquetoast.

What redeems Kingdom are its lavish technical production and the exceptional cast of secondary characters that far outshine Bloom. Perhaps it is the presence of such lush sets and characters that make Balian seem bland in comparison. Especially memorable is Green’s Sibylla, whose transformation in the film is utterly believable and real.

Epics require a certain suspension of disbelief. If the ingredients are blended just right, the effect is a rousing tale of love and courage. Done incorrectly, it simply becomes a hokey story with excessive sex and gore. Scott eschews the time-tested elements of an epic, and while it is daring, it is these choices that tamper Kingdom of Heaven down from the great to the merely good. Kingdom of Heaven never quite rises to its heights, merely panning out to an end. It is still, however, a sumptuous, complex piece of filmmaking.