Such a grand failure

Rating: 4/10 (5 April 2015)

Old Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins) recounts the great age of Alexander who ended tyranny. In Pella, Macedonia 350BC, Alexander is the son of Olympias (Angelina Jolie). Alexander (Colin Farrell) would learn from his teacher Aristotle (Christopher Plummer) and take over after his father Philip (Val Kilmer)'s death. He would take his men from Macedonia to conquer the rest of the known world and beyond.
Aside from all of the historical inaccuracies, this movie is missing the greatness from Alexander the Great. It tries to do so much that it doesn't have any heart. The characters lack any real blood or substance. It feels like a very long, slightly confused high school history lesson. The use of Hopkins to recount the story also subtracts from the immediacy. There are some big action scenes but Oliver Stone doesn't do so well with the characters. It's also very strange to have a shinny blonde Colin Farrell. It's an ill-advised move.