It Is What It Is - If Western-Style Historical Battles Are You - Then Go For It

Rating: 5/10 (16 May 2008)

The plot leading up to the battle of 4000 Zulu warriors against only 100 British soldiers is hard to follow, mainly because there are far too many characters to remember who they are and it is difficult to hear what they are saying, and no one bothers to explain the historical setting, so unless the audience has studied 1870s African colonialism wars, they're going to be a bit lost as to what is going on and why.
Scenes of the Zulu warriors dancing, or singing, or preparing for battle are lingered on, presumably because they took a lot of effort to film, but are so long and uneventful, it is difficult to concentrate.
Due to some camp acting and a strange lack of violence, with people being murdered with quick pokes of spears or bayonets as if this is a game of tag, Zulu can be hard to take seriously.
Within the plethora of characters, it becomes questionable who the audience is supposed to like. Perhaps the film makers had no one in mind, and were trying to give an honest portrayal of each man, but each character has moments of likeableness and moments of detestableness so it is difficult to pick favourites, there is an awful lot of setting up of the peace-loving Reverend who becomes a screaming alcoholic force of evil, just because he thinks murder is a sin and the battle of power between Lt Chard and Lt Bromhead makes each constantly switch in the affections of the audience, Bromhead originally being set up as a fop, but later it seeming wrong that Chard is stealing his command.
Zulu is a film that will be liked by those who want to see a film about a historical battle, but it doesn't have anything to offer on any other level. It is exactly like Westerns that focus on homesteaders versus Native Americans, with the small band in the wagon circle being beaten down by an expert warrior race that are on their own land and yet feel like the villains. The Zulu warriors are never represented as bad, in fact they are constantly praised, however, watching 4000 of them attack 100 British soldiers, and willingly sacrifice their own men just to test the enemy weaknesses makes it very hard to want anything other than for them to lose. And towards the end, when the British get some really organised firing lines in action, it is actually quite exciting. Everyone loves the underdog, and a film of 100 men being slaughtered by 4000 men would never have been made, so it is just a matter of sitting it out to see how these few will defeat the many.