Story can't keep up with the visuals

Rating: 4/10 (13 May 2007)

Quite the visual feast, so much so that the story just can't keep up. That's not to say that the script is bad, but it just can't compete with the look of the film. Every scene of this film is beautiful to watch, and shot so perfectly that one is simply in awe of the talent involved. The big action scenes manage to remain intimate and personal by the slowing down and speeding up of the film, making it much easier to follow than the typical MTV-style editing and vibrating camera. It makes it obvious what is going on, a welcome change from most sword-and-sandal epics. The story is a bit too complex for a film like this, and the political subplot really doesn't work at all. The acting is surprisingly good, especially from Butler, who really owned this film with his magnetic performance, and the film's weirder moments were balanced out nicely by the fight scenes. Not especially great, but very entertaining and quite beautiful.