when will it end

Rating: 1/10 (23 May 2005)

I was gob-smacked. Was I supposed to really take it seriously? Unable to use the magic of film to construct a story, right from the start we have to be subjected to a very old fashioned device (not even listen!) of Anthony Hopkins narrating a story with backdrops reminiscent of Cecil de Mille films. I was expecting a film that although would satisfy Hollywood audiences would also somehow project the greatness of Alexander. What came across was an unverifiable account of a man struggling with his own adolescent neurosis, some Black Beauty bonding with a horse, some mixing of myth with reality and no clear indication of his motives to push East. Was war the only realistic solution he had to expand his empire? Was the decision to stop further advances really based on a near fatal injury endured in war? It sounded like the logic and reasoning of a spoilt brat not a statesman! The death of the beautiful Ephastius was as predictable as it was cringing. Hinting at the birth of the Suez canal? I was half expecting Alexander predicting the discovery of the Americas and the founding of a city called New Alexandria!! Admittedly some parts were stunning, the final battle scene, the Baudolinoesque advance into the unknown but one grew tired of the guilt ridden uneasy glances which pointed out the conspirators, the snakes, the never ageing tomb raider mother with a Lithuanian accent. I came out of it thinking that this Alexander was rather small.