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Kingdom of Heaven starring Orlando Bloom and Eva Green

Posted on March 5, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Kingdom of Heaven- Orlando Bloom
Kingdom of Heaven- Orlando Bloom. Photo via lightscamerahistory.files.wordpress.com

1184. Blacksmith Balian (Orlando Bloom)  is not a happy man. He has recently lost his kid, and his wife has committed suicide, not being able to bear the death of their child. Moreover he has to listen to the town’s priest (Michael Sheen), who goes on and on about how his wife is in hell. But his life completely changes when he meets his father for the first time. The absent father is Lord of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), and he is there to take Balian with him. At first Balian is unwilling but circumstances force him to go. From then on, he learns a lot from his father. He will also need to prepare himself to take his father’s place. He now doesn’t even have the time to grieve- he has to be a knight, a worthy lord, deal with Prince Guy (Marton Csokas) who absolutely despises him, travel to Jerusalem…

Kingdom of Heaven
Kingdom of Heaven. As glorious as an epic should be. Written by William Monahan. Directed by Ridley Scott. Photo: images.allmoviephoto.com

Balian’s journey is exciting and never dull for a second. In Jerusalem, he easily makes friends with the Marshall Tiberias (Jeremy Irons) and earns the trust of King Baldwin (Edward Norton). He also intrigues and attracts, Sibylla  (Eva Green)-  The King’s sister- who also happens to be Guy’s wife. Not to mention, Guy is thirsty for blood and is dying to fight the Muslims- much against the will of the King.

Kingdom of Heaven- a battle scene
I love a good old battle scene. Well, what did you expect? My favorite movie ever is an epic war flick, Braveheart. Photo: film.com.tr

This movie is a really good example on how an epic should be. It has all the complications and the amazing battle scenes. It has the peace-loving villager-turned lord-who doesn’t let go of his virtues, even though it might cost him dearly. Orlando Bloom fits Balian perfectly and the rest of the cast is simply brilliant.

Fun Stuff:

Liam Neeson only appears in the first 25 minutes or so.

Orlando Bloom and Liam Neeson in Kingdom of Heaven
Orlando Bloom and Liam Neeson in Kingdom of Heaven. Father and son bonding moment. Cool for Bloom. Those sword-fighting lessons from Pirates of The Caribbean must have come in handy. Photo: hecinemasource.co

King Baldwin has leprosy. So you never see Edward Norton’s face. But it is fun to have him nevertheless.

Edward Norton in Kingdom of Heaven
Edward Norton in Kingdom of Heaven. Yep, this is how Edward Norton looks throughout all his scenes. For all we know, he could have recorded his voice. Just kidding. It is always nice to have him in a movie. Even when you don’t see him.Photo: cinecultist.com

The (only) leading female is Sibylla, played by the gorgeous Eva Green.

Eva Green in Kingdom of Heaven
Trust me, this picture doesn’t do her justice at all. She is simply radiantly beautiful in this cool epic from 2005. Photo: http://www.atoww.com

There is also Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) from Grey’s Anatomy, plays one of Liam Neeson’s soldiers.

Kevin McKidd from Grey's Anatomy
Yes, I admit I went back to watching Grey’s Anatomy after Kevin’s Owen livened up the show. I was pissed off that they had gotten rid of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character for the second time. But finally there is another passionate and fun gPuy. Photo: img5.allocine.fr

Brendan Gleeson plays exactly looks like his character in Braveheart– where he played Hamish, Wallace’s best mate. Although here, he is pretty much the bad guy.

Brendan Gleeson, Braveheart
This is Brendan in Braveheart. One of the good guys.
Brendan Gleeson in Kingdom of Heaven
Brendan Gleeson in Kingdom of Heaven. Apart from 10 year gap between the films, he is instantly recognizable and reminded me of Hamish. Here, he does a great job as a mean bastard. Photo: filmdope.com

Reasons to see Kingdom of Heaven:

–          You mean apart from Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, Edward Norton, Orlando Bloom and Eva Green?

–          Director is Ridley Scott- who also directed Gladiator, Body of Lies, American Gangster, White Squall and Thelma and Luis.

–          Good script, good acting, wonderful direction and pretty cool battle scenes.

–          If you are not convinced yet, I am giving up.

Cons:

–          I didn’t see any, but you might be bothered by the stuff that is not historically accurate.

–          Why have Edward Norton play a character with leprosy in the first place? But being the cool and interesting guy that he is, it was Edward who specifically requested that role. Let’s keep fingers crossed that he does star in an epic one day, with his face showing…

–          If you do hate Orlando Bloom and think he can’t act, obviously you will get annoyed watching him for 144 minutes. Or for 190 minutes in Director’s Cut.

Orlando Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven
Yep, a lot of Orlando Bloom. He is pretty good, though. He carries his role with grace and innonce. Photo: wallpaperbase.com

My biases: Love the whole cast and I am a big fan of Ridley Scott. White Squall (starring Jeff Bridges) is one of my favorite movies ever and I am yet to dislike anything Ridley worked on.

IMDB verdict: 7.1

My verdict: 7.8- 8.0

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, adventure, Brendan Gleeson, Edward Norton, Eva Green, history, Jeremy Irons, Kevin McKidd, Kingdom of Heaven, Liam Neeson, Marton Csokas, Michael Sheen, movies, Orlando Bloom, Ridley Scott

Elizabeth: The Golden Age starring Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush and Abbie Cornish

Posted on February 4, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Elizabeth The Golden Age with Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush. Co-starring Samantha Morton and Tom Hollander.
Elizabeth The Golden Age with Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush. Co-starring Samantha Morton and Tom Hollander.

Elizabeth The Golden Age is truly a feast for a person who enjoys epic period pieces. It is glorious in all aspects. The fact that Cate Blanchett didn’ t win the Oscar for best actress isn’t something I can’t bring my head around. But it is not just her. Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush, Abby Cornish and Samantha Morton are all great. This is the second Elizabeth movie with Cate, the first movie – Elizabeth- was made in 1998, with Cate in the title role. I haven’t seen it but I am seriously tempted. But I am wondering if Joseph Fiennes was as good as Clive Owen?

Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Cate Blanchett as the Queen in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. This is it. I am officially a Cate Blancett fan. What can I say? I love portraits of powerful and impressive women.

Elizabeth is loved by her people. She is strong and open-minded. She cares about her people. She refuses to marry any man just to have a heir. She loves her power, country and values her freedom. Of course she has enemies. Spain wants her gone and their king is making plans with Elizabeth’s cousin Mary Stuart, who is under house arrest in Scotland.

The Queen’s right hand Sir Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) is very worried and doing the best he can to protect Elizabeth from any possible threats.

Clive Owen as Walter Raleigh. He takes The Queen's breath away. And Bess's. What? Can you blame them? Walter also is big on his principles and principles; only two of the attributes that attract Elizabeth. I am guessing him being gorgeous plays a part too.

Things get even more complicated for Elizabeth when she meets and falls for Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). He is a free-spirited sailor who respects his queen and is a fine captain who has pissed off many Spanish during his fruitful cruises. Elizabeth can’t exactly have a normal relationship with a man who has and wants nothing to do with royalty, can she? And although Walter seems to be romantically interested in his queen, his attention is also fixed on one of the Queen’s maids- Bess (Abby Cornish)…

Abby Cornish as Bess in Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Abby Cornish as Bess. She is just so beautiful.

It has it all: Betrayal, love, romance, passion, friendship, war, strategy, loyalty and conflicts. It has action and drama. The costumes, art direction and the lighting add to the fairy tale feel of the film. The complex relationship between Walter, Bess and Elizabeth only make the plot much more interesting. There is nothing typical about the Queen’s character and Cate Blanchett does a great job in making the movie spectacular.

Shortly, I loved everything about the movie. If you like your epic, see Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

And since I have covered many Clive Owen movies on my blog (although there are more to come), I think a poll on your favorite Clive movie is in order. Vote away.

[poll id=”2″]

If you want more of Clive Owen’s movies, click the name of the movie to go the reviews/trailers.

Shoot ‘Em Up

Duplicity

The Boys are Back

Beyond Borders

The International

Derailed

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Abby Cornish, biography, Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, drama, Elizabeth The Golden Age, Geoffrey Rush, history, movies, romance

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