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kim-bergstrom
Reviews
Napoleon (2023)
Such a wasted opportunity - where was Napoleon in this movie?
First, I want to say that I really do understand that this is not a documentary. I also understand very well that you have to use some artistic license when adopting something for the big screen. And I really, really do understand that this movie isn't primarily (or at all) targeted at me and my fellow history- and/or Napoleon buffs.
But I also really, really do understand why french critics are absolutely up in arms about this movie. It's not much more than a slightly disjointed tragic love story interspersed with some very good-looking if laughably incorrect battle scenes. You get zero historical context. Nothing about the causes of the revolution. Nothing to explain why Napoleon was overwhelmingly positively received by the French people. Nothing about why the monarchies of Europe hated and feared the French of the time so much, and by extension Napoleon. Nothing about the fact that the wars were mostly started by his enemies.
His rise to power is mostly simply left out. We get to see that he massacred civilians in Paris, fired bloody cannons at the bloody pyramids (who exactly dreamed up this bad mushroom trip of a cinematic idea?) and then deserted his army in Egypt because he couldn't stand being away from his wife! And then, for some (from what we have been shown) inexplicable reason he is deemed to be the saviour of France. I mean, COME ON! Nothing about the Italian campaign, which was what really elevated him to potential leadership material. Some, almost unintelligible, scenes about the machinations behind the ouster of the directorate, not even a mention how he went from one of three consuls to first consul to consul for life, and consequently nothing about the political climate that made this possible.
We get to see exactly nothing of Napoleon's accomplishments as a statesman, despite the fact that almost all of Europe, and MANY other countries now are governed by variants of the ... Code Napoleon. Nothing about what the spread of the ideas of the revolution to the rest of Europe meant (which was what the old autocracies really feared). Nothing about what Napoleon meant for the defragmentarisation of Germany. Nothing about Napoleons role in separating the church from the state. Nothing about how Napoleonic France was much, much more of a meritocracy than the rest of Europe, where birth station was still all that mattered. Nothing, zero, of substance that had to do with French society and very, very little about what went on in European politics. And then it ends by a list of dead, instead of the triumphant retorn of the Emperor's body to France, escorted by members of his old Imperial Guard, to his current resting place in Paris. Even the bloody KING realised he had to make peace with the legacy of Napoleon, for the sake of France. Of this, nothing.
I can go on. But if I haven't made my point by now, I never will. But oh, yes, I just have to mention that the battle scenes looked really good, but they horribly, horribly misrepresented how those battles were fought. And they also give exactly zero explanation of why Napoleon was such a great commander. I still think Napoleon was a sort of ok movie. But it also failed on so many levels and with so many things, that I can't help but see it as a huge and hugely missed opportunity. I expected better from Ridley Scott. This is by far the worst Scott movie I've seen, and I've seen many.
Cowboy Bebop (2021)
What happened there?
I'm at a loss. The first seven episodes were too funny and kitchy space western with weak, simple and predictable plots and underwhelming characters. Fair entertainment when you're down with a fever like I was. But in the last three episodes Cowboy Bebop grew some serious balls. It was nailbiting and intense, with just a sprinkling of humour. All kinds of character development and surprising twists. After episode seven I fully understand why it got axed. But after the last three, I would definitely have watch a season two, to see if they kept the intensity, the quality of the plot and the characters up. What happened? I can't understand that the first seven and the last three episodes were produced by the same people. I'm at a loss.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
Surprisingly good
This isn't a great movie. It's not part of a great franchise. But all three movies were good fun with fast paced action, OK to actually pretty good acting (even though the action didn't leave all that much room for that), some surprises and some predictability (and what movie doesn't have that. I'm glad the filmmakers allowed this third installment to be this long, which meant they could take some time for plot- and character building. I can not for the life in me understand all the 1's and 2's this film has received. A 4, maybe, if the less good elements really disturbed you and the good elements did nothing. And I'm not even remotely in the target demographic. Don't expect deep philosophising, don't expect a mibdbending plot. It's more than competently crafted young adult drama with lots of well executed action. Expect entertainment, not for your world to be altered, and you'll do fine.