Mike Klonowski

A long, boring, but above all a very negative, Anglo-centric revisionist history film. A man who armies switched sides for is played like a pathetic, cuckolded Arthur Fleck. Joachin is literally sleeping or nodding off in half of the film whereas the real Napoleon was recorded as having boundless energy and charisma. Ridley Scott plays it fast and loose with historical accuracy but also manages to make everything dry and contrived and the film comes across mostly like a boring, blow-by-blow PowerPoint presentation. Yes, the sets, costumes and cinematography are great, but things like plot, script and character development (or likeable characters) are woefully lacking. It contained some ultra-violent battles scenes, of which there were only 3 or 4 of. A lot of graphic cannon fire deaths, but I could feel myself falling asleep during the down-time, and geez was there is a lot of it! If you know nothing about Napoleon, you might like it, but it is still slow. If you know your history, the movie does feel insulting to your intelligence at times. OK, I get it, Ridley, you hate the guy. 2 Stars

Lest we forget. Beautifully filmed and acted. It's a cinema lover's art movie, so not everyone will like it, and individuals who dont know what the Hitlerjugend or the Gestapo were might not get the humour in the film. For example, a scene where they played a German version of the Beatles' song 'I wanna hold you hand' with a montage of Nazi themes and propaganda was incredibly slick and stylish. It also cleverly drew comparisons between Nazi hysteria and Beatlemania. Only a true film auteur can do something like that. Waititi obviously had personal reasons for choosing the subject matter, which is still as relevant as ever. Great supporting performances from veteran actors Scarlett Johansen, Sam Rockwell, Alfie Allen and Rebel Wilson. One of (if not the best) movies of 2019. Five stars

I'd like to rate it higher, but how high can you rate a film which is basically just an ad for Mattel? In this case, it's a bit like The Lego Movie, with a fantasy mash up of the "real world" and the toy universe. In fact, Will Ferrel plays an antagonist in both films. So it's basically a generic modern Hollywood family comedy cash cow. The set and costume design are good, as are the actors, but the whole thing seems manufactured on an essembly line and is just a little bit too plastic! Not that there's anything wrong with that, but some people might have been expecting more, given all the hype.

An amazing gaming experience. Great for parents and children alike, and will likely consume most of your free time for a good month or more. Great value for money. For kids 8 years and up.