From writer David Scarpa (The Last Castle,All the Money in the World) and director Ridley Scott (where do you even start with the list of Ridley’s great films. Well lets go Gladiator, Alien, Blade Runner) comes Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon, and Vanessa Kirby as Josephine Bonaparte.Sir Ridley’s latest film takes us back to the 18th century and takes us through the rise, and then the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte not just in his military career but also focussing a lot on his relationship with Josephine. A lot was said about the film (and not all good) when it first hit cinemas in late 2023 but never one to just follow the review herd, I checked the film out myself, now that its on Apple TV+. Now you may have heard the story about how there will be a far longer version of Napoleon arriving at some point, On Apple TV+ at the moment the version you see is the theatrical version and the official directors version. Running at 2hrs and 40 minutes, this is Ridley’s preferred version of the film . Back in November, Sir Ridley Scott told Sky News “I think that’s what the director’s cut is – the two and a half hour – that’s the truth of it. Because I learned early on, basically from all the films I’ve done, but also from early days as a commercial maker. Am I communicating and how tight can I be to communicate and say everything I want?” 

Now that the which version do I watch? question is out of the way, Is the 2hr 40 minute Napoleon any good? Well for me, yes and also no. Which shall we cover first? Ill go for the yes’s because that’s the type of film fan I am, I always try to focus on the positive.  Its beautifully filmed by Dariusz Wolski ( The Martian, House of Gucci) and whilst some scenes are a little dark in places (quite a few of them actually), the film does look very cinematic. The battle scenes (and there are a few) are fantastic and kept my attention 100%, especially the ‘ice battle’ which is pretty stunning. Even scenes that don’t have a  lot going on are pretty ‘moody’ in the way they are filmed and definitely help build the atmosphere and the world of this film.   The cast are also on top form and thankfully Ridley has opted not to get his cast doing the ‘accent’ thing and instead go a similar route to Gladiator, where characters speak their own language and own accents for the most. If the whole cast were doing an accent thing- I suspect it would come off as pretty cheesy and a bit odd.  That’s not to say the film doesn’t have its odd points, and so lets shift to some of the ‘no’s’  

Whilst the film is a serious look at Napoleon, there are some sequences in the film that feel like they are out of a farcical movie. For example there is s sequence early on that involves some members of the ruling party being told they have to resign whilst troops look on, some of the reactions in those scenes feel very comedic and I’m not sure they were meant to.  Those pantomime like scenes did snap me out of the film but then all things were okay once more battle scenes arrived on screen. For me the movie felt like it was both a comedy film and also an epic battle film, and those two things just didn’t blend too well for me.  Napoleon definitely is up there in the top ranks of Ridley’s films but considering the films that Sir Ridley has done in his career he still has an amazing career and some ground-breaking films in his filmography. Perhaps the problem is that with most films nowadays, its just very hard to do something that hasn’t been seen before, and when you think back to Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator, those are all films that had things we hadn’t seen before in our cinema lifetime.

Would I recommend Napoleon? If you are a Ridley Scott completist then yes. If you are a Joaquin completist, then also yes. But if you want a great cinematic experience filled with battles and epicness then I would probably lean you more towards Kingdom of Heaven (Extended Version)  by Sir Ridley Scott. That to me along with Gladiator is the high mark of Ridley’s epic battle films. Napoleon the  movie does have its issues but do check it out for yourself if you are so inclined. Im glad I did.  Its just not one that I will revisit as I often do with much of Ridley’s filmography. Too few battles scenes and a storyline that will cause you to think ‘right- i can nip off and put the kettle on and grab some snacks’ 

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