Good in the first hour, and then.....

Rating: Null/10 (14 January 2005)

Alexander has one of the best epic battle scenes ever brought to the silver screen. Towards the end of the first hour of this 3-hour account of Alexander the Great, we see him pitching his fifty thousand Macedonia warriors against a Persian army of a couple hundred thousand strong. The build-up is effective, from the strategy planning session in the tent to the jitters around the night camp. The pre-engagement pep talk resonates when Alexander addresses three of the soldiers in the rank and file directly, with personal intimacy. The presentation of the entire battle is splendid, from the close-up blood-and-sweat skirmish to the sweeping view seen from the eyes of an eagle, a scene strikingly similar to one in The Longest Day of the landing seen from two German planes. I would even put Alexander's battle scene slightly ahead of three comparable ones: more realistic than Return of the King, more stupendous than Troy, more varied than Spartacus.
But what about the rest of the movie? As an account of the life of Alexander, it does not quite impress. Colin Farrell has put up a good effort and given us a credible portrayal of the human side of Alexander. It's not fair to fault him as being too young; Alexander WAS young. However, while giving a convincing picture of Alexander as a top-notch general (such as in the battle scene mentioned above), Farrell comes short in having a strong enough presence to project the image of a great king. He tries hard to convey Alexander's vision of a united Europe and Asia but does not show enough passion, or madness, as some may say.
After the first hour, the movie sort of sags, becoming melodramatic rather than epic. There are two most talked-about relationships in this movie. The Oedipus Complex thing is a bit overblown by reviewers. The emphasis in this movie is much more on a possessive mother than on anything else. The homosexual relationship with Hephaistion, on the other hand, cannot be made any clearer.
The acting is generally good. Particularly enjoyed is Anthony Hopkins' soliloquy disguised as dictation to a scribe. This is a great master of the theatre at work. Also enjoyable is Christopher Plummer's brief appearance as Aristotle, much better than the dull role he plays in National Treasure. Should not forget to mention Angelina Jolie's successful tackling of a row very different from any she's played before.