Why, Mr. Stone?

Rating: 5/10 (19 December 2007)

I don't want to beat a dead horse, so I'll just say I can't imagine why Oliver Stone made this movie. In the past, I've fancied I had some clue about his motives, but this one escapes me. Is it yet another journey into the psyche of the power-drunk? Whatever, it didn't work. If he wanted a political expose, he should have skipped the battles. But I'd have preferred that he skipped the philosophical discussions. After all, no one knows that there's any facts at all in that part. But if he'd shown how Greeks could defeat military forces many times their size, that would have been interesting. A lot of the realms Alexander conquered were degenerate and ready to topple. Stone could have shown that. But I think he was, not for the first time, self-indulgent. This is the movie he wanted to make and the world be damned. All I can say is "not much fun to watch". I'm seeing this movie after a series of excursions in ancient military history like 300 and Troy. All the proceeding were way more entertaining than this movie.