disjointed and a missed opportunity to make an epic

Rating: 3/10 (31 January 2005)

I am staggered that anyone could find something amazing to say about this film. I sat for the full 3 hours and was very disappointed that a story that could have been turned into an epic was so disjointed that it became confusing. It was rather like watching a decorator putting up wallpaper without having a clue where it is supposed to go and at what angle or what colour in the confusion it becomes a distorted mess. I was looking forward to the battle scenes in the anticipation that they would make the film worthwhile sitting through the rest of the dialogue but sadly again a missed opportunity. The battle scenes didn't save it either. Unlike Gladiator where you could understand why Maximus takes the course of action he does to win a battle and demonstrates his leadership; or even more recently TROY where Achilles demonstrates why he was deemed a god and shows his leadership. Sadly in Alexander- Alexander states his intentions much to the surprise and shock of his generals- states what he intends to do but then we really cannot see how he achieves this. When flashbacks are thrown in during the film without a clue as to there relevance at that time it takes on epic proportions instead of becoming an epic for the right reasons! How Oliver Stone never took the golden opportunity of making this into an epic and taking a leaf from Gladiator and Troy in making it thus is beyond me. I am no super director but I am sure I could have made a better effort on the budget available. My only praise is for Anthony Hopkins who narrates well and makes an attempt (probably without his knowledge) to piece this disjointed effort together.