Kingdom Of Heaven

Rating: C

Review: Kingdom of Heaven is a long movie, and it feels even longer. We meet Legolas, I mean Balian (Orlando Bloom, very brooding this time around) after his wife commits suicide. He seems to be suffering greatly. He does a great thoughtful stare into the distance. His long-lost father appears from the crusades to try to recruit Balian. At first he refuses, but eventually, he finds himself on the road to Jerusalem to find forgiveness. He arrives there rather rapidly (minus a father also), and that's when the movie slows to a crawl. Balian takes over his father's land, grows some crops, falls for a princess, and then gets involved with the crusades after all. You almost forget the crusades are going on at one point. Through backhanded dealings with the leader of the Knights Templar, some Muslims are slaughtered, bringing the conflict to a boiling point at the city walls of Jerusalem. Balian is the leader of the people inside the walls due to the fact that everyone else of somewhat importance is incapacitated. In a large battle very reminciant of Lord of the Rings, Balian leads the troops in the fight with the overwhelming forces of Saladin.

Orlando Bloom does a decent job in the movie of staring off into space, but it seems at times the he is longing for his fellowship buddies to come to the rescue. Liam Neeson is decent as Balian's father, even if his part is short. The only really shining part in the movie is Tiberious the scarred right-hand man of the king, played very well by Jeremy Irons.

All in all, I would say while the battle scenes are great on the big screen, this one is a renter. It's very long and the big screen excitements are few and far between. Save your money and see something you know you'll enjoy.