‘Napoleon’ reviews round-up: ‘Proper old-fashioned historical epic’ is a ‘visual spectacle’
Historical drama Napoleon arrives in cinemas next week and the reviews are in!
Gladiator director Ridley Scott‘s new historical biopic dramatises the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix.
He’s joined by The Crown star Vanessa Kirby as Empress Joséphine, alongside Mark Bonnar from Guilt as Napoleon’s general, Jean-Andoche Junot, Tahar Rahim (The Serpent) as Paul Barras, and Ben Miles (The Trial of Christine Keeler) as Caulaincourt.
Watch the trailer here:
The official synopsis reads: “Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte’s relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.”
Napoleon will be released in cinemas on Wednesday 22 November, and most critics seem to be very impressed by Ridley Scott’s latest film, with 4-star ratings from most publications.
We’ve rounded up a selection of spoiler-free reviews here to help you decide if you want to watch the movie:
“Ridley Scott dispenses with the symbolic weight attached to previous biopics in favour of a spectacle with a great star at its centre…
“Phoenix is the key to it all: a performance as robust as the glass of burgundy he knocks back: preening, brooding, seething and triumphing.” ★★★★★ – The Guardian
“Ridley Scott delivers a visual spectacle with a complex portrait of the fabled emperor that is more about Empress Joséphine than the military conquests.” – Tatler
“As a cinematic spectacle, Napoleon is pretty much beyond reproach, and if it plays fast and loose with historical fact now and then, this is only to be expected. But its depiction of Napoleon Bonaparte is reductive, and hopelessly Anglo-centric.
“In Scott’s film he comes across like a vertically challenged teenager, either sulking in his chateaux, attacking other countries or humping his unfortunate wife. We get no sense of his reformist zeal, his interest in law and education and the mechanics of a fully-functioning state.” ★★★★ – Irish Independent
“A proper, old-fashioned historical epic…
“Scott’s 160-minute biopic of the French military commander and ruler, which sweeps through several countries and several decades, and has several thunderous battle scenes along the way [is] an awe-inspiring achievement, although it may leave you with a greater appreciation of Scott’s leadership skills than of Napoleon’s.” ★★★★ – BBC Culture
“Ridley Scott and Joaquin Phoenix deliver a film that works better as a comedy than a historical epic.” – IndieWire
“Blunt-force charisma from Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s dark, epic biopic … The director’s 28th feature is a magnificent slab of dad cinema, with Phoenix a startling emperor and Vanessa Kirby brilliant as his wife.” ★★★★ – Daily Telegraph
“Joaquin Phoenix excels as a master of war in Ridley Scott’s psychologically complex but brilliantly staged biopic … The runtime doesn’t exactly fly by, and one shudders to think how a Director’s Cut with two more hours will help that, but Napoleon, like its subject, gets where it’s going by stealth.” – Deadline
“The marketing for Napoleon did a bang-up job of making Ridley Scott’s take on the French emperor’s rise and fall look very grandiose and serious. But that’s not exactly what the film is like: this is a historical epic which is constantly on the lookout for subtle ways to undercut historical epics…
“Scott’s take on Napoleon is distinctively deadpan: a funny, idiosyncratic close-up of the man, rather than a broader, all-encompassing account.” ★★★★ – Empire
“Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby are perversely watchable in Ridley Scott’s thrilling epic… This is a two-and-a-half-hour spectacle that translates brutal history through Scott’s brawny, cannily modern style.” ★★★★ – The Independent
Napoleon will be streaming on Apple TV+ in 2024.
Gladiator is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.