A Multi-Million Dollar Science Project Gone Horribly Wrong

Rating: 3/10 (31 March 2005)

Given the release date, it appeared that there was high confidence in "Alexander", however it appears that no one, save for Stone himself, was actually looking at the finished product. The editing was finished mere weeks before the release date, and in hindsight, it seems that a lot of the project was based on blind faith. Unfortunately, Oliver Stone has really fallen off the top, his glory days far behind him. This was an idea that seemed terrific on paper, yet the final movie is awful in execution.
The main problem with the movie is structure, and when a movie exceeds three hours, that is equivalent of a death knell. Overlong, potholed, and disjointed, Alexander stumbles from one scene to another, with no honest sense of direction or pace. In addition, the final scenes seem very tacked on, due to the damaged reels during the initial production stages. Given Oliver Stone's negative attitude towards digital filming, this seems all the more ironic.
The movie does have its strengths, however. The battle scenes are exhilarating, and in a year of disappointments such as "Troy" and "King Arthur", it's welcoming. The acting isn't quite as bad as many people make it to be, and the score is commendable. Still, "Alexander" fails to revive the swords-and-sandals genre.
3/10