Europe will understand better

Rating: 7/10 (13 August 2005)

A lot of the comments I heard coming out of the US were complaints that the title character was Gay, and that Colin Farrell had died his hair Blonde.
Well, firstly, Alexander was noted for his blonde hair and his piercing blue eyes. Secondly he, and a sizable chunk of his professional army, was indeed bisexual. One elite unit being known as 'the Companions' was no accident.
Bisexuality was encouraged amongst the ranks. Such an outlook could be viewed as practical in such a campaign as it lessened the rape of indigenous and conquered peoples and made their subjugation and acceptance of Greek rule easier. It also lessened the length of the baggage train, as fewer camp followers would be present.
Onto the film itself, yes it's long, but when you enter a film directed by Oliver Stone, that's one of the things you expect (do 'JFK' and Any Given Sunday ring bells with people).
I was a little disturbed at first to find the Macedonians sounding like an Irish Boy Band, but as the film rode on, it became more acceptable as it made Colin Farrell's job easier when it came to his driving speeches, added a unifying factor to this small central group of characters and made it abundantly clear (in a nice 'Show don't tell' way) the Angelina Jolie and Rosario Dawson were not of the same nation as the rest of the main cast.
The battle scenes are few and far between for a film about the life of the man who conquered not only much of the known world, but also a large chunk of world that had only been viewed before as legendary. The director concentrating more on the personal events of Alexander's life the military achievements which made him famous, tearing down some of the myths and putting in a little of a more believable man, stressed by the power and responsibility in his hands and burdened by the respective desires of his parents and their use of him as a pawn in his early life.
I had hoped for greater coverage of the battles in his campaigning life, but was not disappointed by the quality of those that were there, although they may have disappointed some who have marvelled at the Last Alliance, Helms Deep and Pelenor Fields in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but Alexander is a tale of a real hero and not a fantastical vision of magic and beasts All in all a well conceived, acted and directed picture that has been subjected to unfair comparisons fantastical visions and a misguided comments from an uneducated audience.