A VERY big disappointment

Rating: 4/10 (23 December 2007)

I am a huge fan of the first Elizabeth movie. I have it on DVD and watch it relentlessly. I am captivated by the intense acting and emotion in that movie and Cate Blanchett is simply mesmorising as Elizabeth. Geoffrey Rush is also brilliant as Walsingham. So I waited in intense excitement for this sequel - the Golden Age - hoping for more of the same.
I didn't get what I was expecting.
This movie covers the period when Mary Stuart (Mary Queen of Scots) is imprisoned and Spain is planning an invasion of Britain to assassinate Protestant Elizabeth and restore Catholic Mary to the throne. Which should all make for gripping stuff so why does Clive Owen bore us all to death for most of the time? I was headbutting the chair in front of me, wishing Elizabeth would order his head cut off or something. Anything to get him off the screen.
This movie PLODS along with pointless scenes and pointless characters. The bad guys are so badly developed and so badly acted that you don't feel anything when they fail. There is no real "good guy" to root for either. Half of the movie covers the old ground of "Elizabeth is still a virgin and unmarried so here's some potential pathetic husband candidates for her".
There is no real build up of suspense and when the Spanish Armada fleet (which is so blatantly CGI) finally gets underway, it's over before it begins (thanks to the dashing Clive Owens who does a Bruce Willis "only one man can save us!" act). I was looking forward to Blanchett doing her "I have the heart and stomach of a King!" speech but she didn't even do that either. Instead she looked as if she was trying to do a Mel Gibson "Braveheart" speech instead.
I am so disappointed and deflated I can't even begin to describe it. Even Geoffrey Rush (whom I was counting on to save the movie) looked so tired and annoyed throughout the movie, as if he signed the contract BEFORE looking at the script. When even he can't be bothered to make any effort, that doesn't bode well for the whole project.
Why oh why did they bother to make this movie?