Spectacular battle scenes - some great acting - but flawed

Rating: 6/10 (29 March 2006)

I was looking forward to watching this film. Oliver Stone has known conflict and handles the battle scenes well. The sense of fear is seen in the eyes of the protagonists. The horror of the battlefield is seen in full detail. Not for the faint hearted. Colin Farrell is convincing as Alexander from boy King to full battle hardened General. The usage of an Irish accent to mark the Macedonians against the English accents of the Greeks was distracting at first but I soon got used to it. However this leads to too many parallels with Braveheart for my liking. Oliver Stone admits that little is know about Alexander. I suspect a little too much of the Celtic fighter from Scotland was allowed to guide the hand of the director. Angelina Jolie is competent as Alexanders mother, Olympias. Val Kilmer is over the top as his father, Philip. Still very enjoyable. If you like your sword and sandals long this is the one for you.