NAPOLEON review (2023)

If you were to ask me who my favourite figure across history is, I would be hard-pressed to name from an objective analysis. However, whom I can name from pure subjectivity and how that figure has shaped my interest in history is Napoleon Bonaparte. Like or leave him, this single figure populated an era where one earth-shattering event followed another, imitating much of those events himself. Whether an honourable soldier who gave a country in the gutter authority or a despot who, through victory and loss, caused the deaths of thousands upon thousands, the man fascinates. His tale is the definition of my favourite word: EPIC. When I walked on the site of Waterloo this summer, the excitement and honour of such an occasion were almost ethereal. Coupling that with Ridley Scott, who also, like him or leave him, creates gigantic cinematic time capsules that are always visual pleasures: this is a match made in heaven. Which is why I say, with such sorrow, that NAPOLEON is one of the most disappointing movies of the year. We are more than used to Scott not performing to the standards of Blade Runner and Gladiator, but on this occasion, this is particularly damaging as it has diminished my confidence in Scott going forward.

Scott, whether he’s made Alien or Alien: Covenant, comes across as such a methodical character, one who knows his craft, refreshing amidst hired scapegoats for Marvel, Star Wars and DC. And he delivers his usual strengths: fetching cinematography, costumes with grit and detail and pristine battle sequences. One such recounts Napoleon’s triumph at Austerlitz - the hairs stood up and it is truly where the movie was most alive, for ten almost alien moments across an overall very mid-level movie. And that’s truly upsetting; everything in the film feels and looks as though Scott has taken his foot off the gas peddle and stuck himself in cruise control. The biggest fear I had going in was how Scott was going to cram in all this history of monumental scale into 2 hours and 38 minutes. Well, he does, but at a break-neck pace, glossing through the key moments of Napoleon’s career, as if he’s not interested. I refer to the multitude of historical inaccuracies he makes. This is not something that usually bothers me nor is it shocking from the guy who made a historical fiction and it’s one of my absolute favourites. But to see Scott have Napoleon fire callously on the Pyramids for no reason or the way he misinterprets Napoleonic war tactics is the most frustrating historical misinformation since Bohemian Rhapsody.

Even the main romance, which is the perspective Scott wishes to tell the biopic from, feels stale and indifferent. For sure, that is how the chemistry is supposed to be and in some respects, Scott’s script work shines through. I enjoyed the way he makes subtle links to celebrity and gossip culture through how Napoleon and Josephine have to keep up appearances, breed and are often prey to reports of adultery. Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby play their roles as best as they can, but the majority of the script has no emotional hook on me to really care for any of these two. I saw this with a friend who, previously, knew little of Napoleon and after asking him how he felt about this, he answered that he had no new gained knowledge or interest in the figure or era following this. Scott definitely could have pulled off a gigantic war epic but seemed stuck between also wanting to add a new spin on it. Even Phoenix seemed surprisingly tepid in a role I think he is too old for; he comes across less like Napoleon made flesh and instead acts like he does in interviews or award ceremonies.

After Scorsese proved he still had his magic, I was excited to see another filmmaking veteran back in the saddle. Yet, Scott disappointed me with something that is far from his worst, but it is definitely where he seemed far less engaged. Because of that, I can’t physically muster any anticipation for his later work, despite the fact I have always shown up to his showings like a loyal disciple. Despite that one sequence at Austerlitz, the movie is a flatline preceding that and afterwards. Napoleon the figure will continue to live on, but this vanilla biopic with confused direction and indifferent script work will not be beyond two weeks in my memory.