no match for the first movie

Rating: 5/10 (28 May 2009)

Director Shekhar Kapur tries with this sequel to ride on the success of his first 'Elizabeth' movie one decade earlier. However, despite the promising premises of a story of love, war and politics centered around one of the most fascinating characters in the history of England and of the world he largely fails. His rendition of the crucial years of the reign of Elizabeth the time when the English monarch renounces marrying ever, faces internal rebellion from her Catholic subjects, decides to execute Mary Stuart and is caught by the remorse of this deed, lives the impossible passion for the pirate turned politician lord Walter Raleigh, and eventually faces the deadly danger of the invasion of England by the then superpower Spain to prevail in glory and make out of England a great nation tend to be accurate in their historical details but lack the power to create emotion. The counter-performance is even more amazing taking into account that a magnificent team of actors serves the director in this film. Individually the performances of Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush or Samantha Morton are each of them close to the best level we can expect from such fine actors, but they somehow do not link one with the other and fail to interest the viewer on the human plane. The emotional response from viewing this second 'Elizabeth' is similar to the one of seeing a fine documentary or docudrama about that historical period. Too little for such a gathering of talent.