One of 1998's best Pictures

Rating: 9/10 (19 July 2008)

After seeing how bad "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" was, I did not bother to see this movie. However, my cousin saw it and told me it was pretty good. Now that I have seen "Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen" twice, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I was never much of a Cate Blanchett fan, in fact I find her to be very overrated, but her performance in this is absolutely mesmerizing. Throughout the film, she has four men in her life. Her lover (Fiennes). Her defender (Rush). Her adviser (Eccleston). And her guardian (Attenborough).
Each plays their part well and ultimately changes her character from start to finish as a naive, innocent princess to a ruthless and determined leader. She not only has the appearance of Queen Elizabeth, but also delivers her lines with emotion and intelligence, gradually showing these changes. How she did not get the Oscar for this is beyond my understanding. Then again, she was an unknown in 1998 versus Paltrow (who won that year). Nevertheless, I will always remember this movie as her best work.
The accomplishments of the costume designs make up, and art direction doesn't just make the time period of the 1500s look realistic, but it also adds to the creativity of the film as well as an unforgettable time in Europe. I also enjoyed Remi Adefarasin's sweeping cinematography and David Hirschfelder's haunting yet beautiful score.
Shekhar Kapur's direction is breathtaking. One of the most amazing scenes in the film is in the beginning where three so-called "heretics" are burned. Rather than focusing it blatantly on the victims or on the shocked crowd, it shows the whole scene through an aerial view with slow 360 degree twirls. It may sound like it would make you dizzy but the camera is steady and captures the whole thing marvelously.
The only thing I have against this movie is that some of the plots and conspiracies get confusing and hard to follow. Some of the character motives I felt were not broadened enough nor had enough time to be built up. Other than that, I really liked this prequel. 9/10
I'm disappointed that this only got on Oscar in 1998, since this is one of two movies that were nominated for Picture I liked that year.