S Fletcher

Great movie. Love letter to movies made without cgi or vfx. Perfect characterizations, excellent acting, thrilling action, pitch perfect comedy. This movie does not disappoint. Best movie of the year.

Terrible. Director couldn’t decide between a domestic drama or war epic. Phoenix is too old to be playing a man in his 30’s. His speaking voice is jarring & distracting in that he is the sole character to speak with an American accent. If Napoleon was a military genius, you would not know it by this film. He is played as a buffoon. Set pieces are repetitive as if Scott had completely lost any creative ideas. Black carriages pull up to Josephine’s house signaling a visitor in the same way about six times to become almost comical; Josephine and Napoleon loll from the same angle on a green sofa having dreary conversations again & again. Did they converse no where else? Do these two love or loathe each other? Impossible to tell. By the end of the movie I was sick of both of them. Patriarchal film techniques abound. Minor female character introduced as beddable character & never seen again- check. Degrading-to-women sex scenes tolerated and stoically accepted by female character- check. Female character disrobing in a flourish and presenting herself naked to the main character while he gazes on her-check. Did Napoleon abandon Egypt for Josephine or because he was militarily defeated- hmm, all for Josephine. The battle scenes are impressively and masterfully shot but the other two thirds of the film is weighted with the dysfunction and tiresome affair of this inexplicable & overwrought couple. Would Napoleon have cried in public? Doubtful. Would Josephine have hiked up her skirt and exposed herself upon meeting Napoleon? Hmm, probably not. Yet as an audience, we are subjected to these anachronisms and our buy-in is taken for granted. At three hours the film is overlong and tiresome. If you are looking for a cohesive story about a flawed but innovative military strategist who rises to the height of power and falls spectacularly- look elsewhere. These two characters deserved each other and we deserved better.