Not a spiffing historical epic, but OK.

Rating: 6/10 (29 October 2006)

Alexander didn't do great in the world - lots of people laughed at it and gave it bad reviews, the acting and accents were generally bad, there were only two action scenes in the whole film and it should have been more intense. Old Ptolemy, who told the story, was just a boring old git who tried to make it sound like he actually cared about Alexander, but knew deep down he didn't really.
But one good thing about this film - it definitely deserves to be called an epic. Though there isn't much action in the whole film, the battle scenes are done beautifully and with great visuals - Alexander himself actually fights like he wants to. There's lots of blood, and it's better than anything Troy or Gladiator have to offer, though they both are generally better films in most other aspects. If it had had more furious battles, I would have liked Alexander more, though it is mostly boring and hard to watch - it tries to build up character, but fails. So, two hours of the film are wasted, generally speaking. But the death of Alexander's father was pretty well done.
On the whole, Alexander does not have the makings to be great - the acting is wooden, the script isn't great, and most of it is pretty laughable. If you must, rent the DVD and just watch both main battle scenes - they are truly great, and show that Oliver Stone can direct well. But this film has marred his career, to be honest - I am wanting to see his latest film, World Trade Center - let's hope that is better. Not great. 6/10