Antoni Pippas

The film turned one of the most magnetic and important figures in history into a passive, dweeb loser. By many accounts Napoleon was an oddball, he had a weird accent, was not great with women in his youth etc. But, his charisma and genius were indisputable. It's hard to understand why anyone would be willing to die for Joaquin Phoenix's character. Who never seems to to feel comfortable or in his element in any setting. Least of all of all on the battlefield. In what ultimately becomes a sort of confusing highlight reel. The significance of what we're shown is suffocated by the need to fit it all into a 2hr 30 min runtime. If I wanted to watch a documentary, i would, but for a cinematic experience, the battles looked cheap and small in scale. Overall, making an anti-great man themed historical epic is an interesting idea in the contemporary political environment.However, this is a swing and a miss. And I can't help feel its because Napoleon never feels like a great person who's greatness is subverted by his insecurities and longing for intimacy. Instead he is just a saddact with pretensions of greatness. For the man who drew the modern map of Europe, a bit too much poetic license perhaps? Or the film just needed more time to accomplish the scope of its ambition.