So, after months of being in love with the trailer for "The Golden Age", and then jumping on the "hate" bandwagon a few weeks ago, it seems I've (mostly) ended up liking the sequel to 1998's Elizabeth. Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush (whom I both adore) return and are joined by Clive Owen (Sir Walter Raleigh, whose interaction with the queen is mostly fudged), Samantha Morton (wasted as Mary Queen of Scots), Abbie Cornish (zzzzzzzzzz I don't care), and Jordi Molla (Phillip, King of Spain). The story, quite obviously for those who have seen the trailer, tells of Queen Elizabeth I's triumph over the massive Spanish Armada in 1585. However at times, the script seems to try and pay more attention to the potential romance between Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh, who looks like he just jumped off the cover of some sappy period romance novel. Dashing Raleigh sends the Queen (no, not Helen Mirren...the other one..) into a tizzy; she's declared herself the Virgin Queen (which is probably starting to look like a really bad idea for the monarch). Raleigh is the "one who got away" for Elizabeth. Except he doesn't really get away. After he knocks up her hand maiden Bess (Abbie Cornish), Elizabeth imprisons him while lashing out at Bess, "My BITCHES wear my COLLARS!" Now, this dialog by itself would have been campy and laughable, but thankfully it's in the middle of a paragraph of condemnation and ends up working. The reason I'm focusing so much on Walter Raleigh is because of all the major complaints by critics, this was the only one that I 100% agree with. The Raleigh story line drags the whole picture down, at times threatening to turn the whole ordeal into a soap opera. From Elizabeth hovering over him to her break down scene which could have easily been written for "High School Musical" (though Ms. Blanchett's talent manages to transcend most of the writing) For whatever reason though, even with Raleigh present throughout the entire film, the majority of the film is strangely free of campiness. In some scenes, the tone will be serious, then over the course of two or three minutes flip between drama and camp until finally drifting back into true seriousness. Even with the camp and the shouting (I TOO CAN COMMAND THE WIND SIR BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!!) the film doesn't forget to tell a compelling story (unlike other "beauty pageant movies like Memoirs of a Geisha and Marie Antoinette) even if it doesn't have the greatest amount of depth underneath the costumes. And oh lord the costumes....those things were amazing as were all the other technicals. However, I've been rambling, so allow me to TRY and be more concise on the various aspects of the film.
1) The acting: as the trailer shows, the is all Blanchett's movie, and she has no trouble carrying the whole thing on her wholly capable shoulders. Rush is good, but the movie doesn't focus on him as much as "Elizabeth" did. I much prefer his other supporting turn in Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Cornish was fine, and so was Owen despite my hatred for his story arc, but neither come close to Blanchett. Samantha Morton as I said earlier, is wasted, though she's good enough as Mary to make me want a whole movie about the Queen of Scots with her as the star. Her character has the best scene in the film (which I'll talk about when I get to the score).
2) The writing: decent, but probably the second weakest aspect of the film. I understand that they wanted to show us that Elizabeth was human and that she wasn't invincible, but her HSM breakdown scene made her seem a bit too fragile without laying down the enormity of the threat from Spain. And again, the Raleigh storyline..BAD BAD BAD. And poor Sir Francis Drake (the real hero behind the Spanish Armada's defeat) only gets acknowledged ONCE!
3) The production values: drop dead gorgeous. From the cinematography, the art direction, and the stunning costume design, this was a fashion lovers dream (assuming that said fashion lover enjoys making 16th century clothes....).
4) The music: yes, parts of it were bombastic and intrusive as the reviews said, but in a number of key scenes the music worked really well. Specifically, the strong violins and ominous chanting leading up to the execution of Mary (my favorite scene in the film) created a powerful aura that could not have been achieved without music (okay, maybe it could have, but the music added some extra "oomph").
5) The editing: one of the fastest moving period films ever. Well done.
6) The direction: the weakest aspect of the film. If Shekhar Kapur wants this to be a study of Elizabeth and her humanity as a charcter, why on earth does he keep filming scenes from the CEILING? This was also done in Elizabeth and it didn't work then either.
and the verdict issssssssssssssssss
*drumroll*
Grade: B+
Current nominations: Best Lead Actress (#3), Best Editing (#5), Best Costume Design (#1 WINNER), Best Cinematography (#1 WINNER), Best Art Direction (#2), Best Makeup (#3), Best Original Score (#3)
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