Far too "arty"

Rating: 4/10 (5 August 2007)

When I first viewed the cast for this movie, i was intrigued, and thought I'd give it a go. Alas, I was left disappointed.
Colin Farrell gives a slow performance as the lead role, and thus, the film seems a little flat footed. The plot has been done before, allowing for few surprises or turns and I found myself bored half-way through. Terrence Malicks appears to focus more on the natural side of The Americas, before Europeans arrived, and the result is a little hazy. With atmospheric music and random polarised shots of swamp land and forest, the whole thing seemed to be trying too hard to make an epic impression.
One of the pluses from the movie is the performance from Q'Orianka Kilcher as the evergreen figure, Pocahontas. For such a young actress, she came across as very natural on screen, next to the big guns; Bale and Farrell. The sets were also very impressive, with a realistic creation of James Town, and the Indigenous villages providing a more life-like back drop for the film.
Sadly, the action was just too slow to captivate me as a viewer, wishing to be entertained. The soundtrack was so low that it was difficult to follow dialogue, and I feel Malicks rather loses the effect of what is essentially, an age-old love film which is a shame, as all the ingredients where available for a sound picture. This, in my opinion, could have been so much better.