Magnificent! A visual feast!

Rating: 10/10 (30 November 2007)

There is quality and excellence wherever you look. It's all here. The acting, the sets, the music, the script, the direction all combine to create an outstanding visual and aural cinematic experience. The costumes are vibrant in colour and rich in texture; perfect down to the smallest detail.
In the first film made 10 years ago, Cate Blanchett played an Elisabeth who transforms from an innocent young girl in love, to a young queen "married" to her country. In that film she was good, but in this film she gives a truly remarkable performance. Geoffrey Rush is also retained from the first film as Walsingham, and has now become her cunning, personal counsel who has created the 16th century equivalent of the secret service.
Now Elisabeth is a strong, mature monarch, confident of her abilities after many years on the throne of England. She is still a woman though, despite her being known throughout history as the "virgin queen", and the film explores her feminine side, as she falls in love with Sir Francis Drake (Clive Owen) and then her humanity, as she pardons the two people she loves the most after they have deceived her. We are shown her great dignity and strength as she dons full battle armour and rides out with her army to confront the forces of Philip of Spain, as they approach the English shores.
There is a gradual and constant build up of tension leading to the arrival of the Spanish Armada. However, the director has thankfully avoided the temptation to impress with vast, sweeping, battle scenes, as indeed, this is not a film about war or military achievement. It is about a woman; a woman who sacrifices her own happiness for the good of her country, a woman who succeeds in commanding respect in the world of men, and a fearless queen who leads her country from ruin to greatness - into the Golden Age.
Could this also mean a golden statute for Cate Blanchett? I would not be at all surprised to see this film win the 2008 Oscars for best actress and best costumes.
An outstanding film. Don't miss it!