how the Irish conquered the world

Rating: 6/10 (22 December 2006)

Although the producers tried to present Alexander and classical Greece as realistic as possible, they still went a bit overboard in a few important instances. I was surprised that they decided to present Alexander as more fond of boys unlike they did in Troy where Achilles was never seen in any of his famous homosexual pursuits, but it did add to the realism. I also enjoyed the antagonist motherly figure that was presented as the hidden force behind Alexander's glory and his weaknesses, but just like the homosexuality, it was a bit exaggerated and was taken too far.
The Greeks that speak with Irish accent was definitely not necessary. I wasn't sure if I was watching some sort of a Celtic conquest adventure or a story of Hellenic glory. The attempt at making the movie more artsy and inverting color during the best battle in the movie was out of place as well. For me at that point in turned into a cartoon. Some scenes were cut and pasted in the middle of the movie when even though they were quite important to the storyline made no sense in the particular context. Most important conquests and exploits of Alexander (e.g. his first conquest and first few victories as well as the story of the Gordian Knot) were not even mentioned. This disjointness and selective development of Alexander's story prevented me from enjoying the movie completely, but I thought it was still a lot better at presenting Hellenic world than the Hollywood's last attempt with Troy.
This movie is far from a masterpiece of even a must see. It is too long, sometimes too pointless and often more than not drags its own feet in a circle without saying much, but it's still not a terrible movie and is somewhat entertaining on the first run.
6/10