Rating of
1.5/4
Bush League attempt at an epic
Cavernstones - wrote on 06/23/15
This production tries to be an epic, but comes across as a subpar undertaking. All the elements are there for a good base story line. Enemy armies set aside their differences to work with one another to achieve something good, and then ally against the murderous evil villain emperor that has usurped the Roman leadership. The problem is there seem to be extraneous pieces the writers could have just left out of the film and other places where more was needed. Too much time was wasted on long sequences where we see and are supposed to empathize with the emotions the characters are feeling as the score music takes over the sound. The special effects are pathetic, and I mean this sincerely in that home computers could render some of the stuff wrought here and look more believable. John Cusack isn't bad, but he does look out of place. Whoever did the overdubbing and writing for the child emperor needs to stop. His dialog was grating and made me cringe.
I will say however this was an ambitious undertaking along the lines of such classics as Lawrence of Arabia and Ben Hur in terms of the sheer number of actors, horses and stunts that are performed. Of course with Jackie Chan involved some of the fight sequences are well choreographed, but that can't make up for all the faults of this move that seemed to drag on.
