The rise and fall of Napoleon (Joaquin Phoenix) from artilleryman to emperor to exile. Opening in 1793 at the execution of Queen Marie Antoinette and closing in 1821 at his death on St. Helena this historical epic covers a multitude of historical events whilst depicting the greatest military strategist of his time as a petulant man-child unable to control his life as well as a battlefield. 

For those of you who have read my blog or listened to me on the At The Flicks podcast for any length of time you will be well aware that I am a huge fan of Ridley Scott’s filmography. So it pains me to open this review with the fact that his latest feature, in its current form, is not a film I could really recommend. It has three wonderful components and two hugely detracting elements that hold it back. 

So what is great? 

The battle sequences are absolutely immense. Ridley Scott proved as recently as 2021’s The Last Duel that he could do brutal fight sequences. Whilst Gladiator and Kingdom Of Heaven feature the sort of large scale armies fighting each other that you see here. Napoleon culminates with The Battle of Waterloo and it is a towering achievement. 

Joaquin Phoenix who last worked with Scott in Gladiator delivers a brilliant performance whilst ensuring that Napoleon is humiliated in almost every scene. His exchange with the British Ambassador where he screams, “You think you’re so great because you have BOATS!” is a pure distillation of his inability to manage his emotions. 

Whilst Ridley Scott portrays an effortless skill of being able to deliver an historical epic with ease. Technically flawless in delivering the scope and scale of an emperor conquering Europe. 

But, and it is a huge but, the film throws you off guard by delivering a “down to earth” epic with none of the grandeur and self importance these films usually apply and then not allowing you the time to actually take in events as they unfold. 

At its current run time of 158 minutes it feels hopelessly rushed. Covering 28 years of political intrigue, vast battles and an all encompassing love story between Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) and Napoleon across 2 and a half hours means moments of vast importance sometimes get a few minutes on screen.

Ridley Scott already announced before the film was released that there will be a directors cut and perhaps it is that version he is comfortable with. His own Kingdom of Heaven released in 2005 is the leading example of a film that was almost unwatchable in its theatrical version that became brilliant in its extended directors cut. So perhaps he is wary of this situation with Napoleon. As for its “down to earth” nature, it is quite difficult to get used to characters of this historical significance behaving as they do and it feels like we need more time with them to understand them. 

Personally I will look forward to the Director’s Cut to be released on Apple TV and hope that with a bit more time to breathe we may get more of the Napoleon-Josephine relationship and have some more time to take in his political manoeuvring and battles. 

You can read more about my thoughts on Ridley Scott films here – Ridley Scott Retrospective