Kingdom of Heaven
Director: Ridley Scott
Year Released: 2005
Rating: 2.0
As with Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, it's becoming clear to me that Ridley Scott really likes three things: sand, blood and the color blue. This is better than both of those films, and not because it's more original or better written - William Monahan's script is cluttered with horrible dialogue - but because I found myself intrigued by the whole history of Jerusalem, its place in the world and how the battle over it continues even to today. Orlando Bloom is not the dynamic lead required for this sort of thing - at least not in the way Russell Crowe was in Gladiator - although side players Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Edward Norton and Ghassan Massoud (who portrays Saladin as an honorable man, which historians claim he was) provide a little dignity.
