movie review
I went to see Elizabeth: The Golden Age last night. I'm reviewing here, but I won't include anything spoilerish, since I know probably almost all of you reading this want to see this movie.
I didn't go in with real high expectations, having heard not-so-great things. And given that my expectations were low, I wasn't too disappointed. But I wasn't impressed either. Well, except by Cate Blanchett (big surprise there) and by the costuming and some of the pretty shots.
Overall, I have to say it was not particularly well-constructed plotwise, and pretty much every other character was wasted as a support role for Cate. Geoffrey Rush: wasted as Walsingham. Clive Owen: wasted as Sir Walter Raleigh. Samantha Morton: wasted as Mary Queen of Scots (who they gave a Scottish accent, even though she mostly lived in France and definitely would have been French-sounding).
It was a shame, because all of the things that made the first one so great and kept it from being just another run-of-the-mill historical costume drama (the lighting, the "unprettiness," the darker themes, the more artistic touches) have this time been taken one degree too far. So all those things that made the first one great are what makes this one not great. It's TOO artsy, it tries TOO hard to be different. And there are a lot of sorta cheesy-looking CG Spanish Armada ships that kind of spoil the authenticity of the whole thing. Plus one super cheese-bomb bit with a white horse (you'll know what I mean if/when you see it).
Ah well. There were still pretty clothes to look at and some excellent accessorizing. Plus, the scenes with Cate when she's been all de-wigged and undressed and is just looking at herself in the mirror... she looks GORGEOUS!!!
I'd still say go see it, but just don't expect it to live up to the first one.
I didn't go in with real high expectations, having heard not-so-great things. And given that my expectations were low, I wasn't too disappointed. But I wasn't impressed either. Well, except by Cate Blanchett (big surprise there) and by the costuming and some of the pretty shots.
Overall, I have to say it was not particularly well-constructed plotwise, and pretty much every other character was wasted as a support role for Cate. Geoffrey Rush: wasted as Walsingham. Clive Owen: wasted as Sir Walter Raleigh. Samantha Morton: wasted as Mary Queen of Scots (who they gave a Scottish accent, even though she mostly lived in France and definitely would have been French-sounding).
It was a shame, because all of the things that made the first one so great and kept it from being just another run-of-the-mill historical costume drama (the lighting, the "unprettiness," the darker themes, the more artistic touches) have this time been taken one degree too far. So all those things that made the first one great are what makes this one not great. It's TOO artsy, it tries TOO hard to be different. And there are a lot of sorta cheesy-looking CG Spanish Armada ships that kind of spoil the authenticity of the whole thing. Plus one super cheese-bomb bit with a white horse (you'll know what I mean if/when you see it).
Ah well. There were still pretty clothes to look at and some excellent accessorizing. Plus, the scenes with Cate when she's been all de-wigged and undressed and is just looking at herself in the mirror... she looks GORGEOUS!!!
I'd still say go see it, but just don't expect it to live up to the first one.