Review – Kingdom of Heaven

I’ll admit to at least some interest in Medieval West Asian history, so perhaps I enjoyed this production more than I really should have (despite the usual battery of historical “reinterpretation”). Clearly this is Ridley Scott’s attempt to take the essential plot elements from Gladiator and relocate them to 12th century Palestine. For the most part it works okay. What we end up with is the oh-so-American tale of a commoner who, though sheer force of will and natural leadership ability, rises to the head of the Christian defenders of the humble denizens of Jerusalem menaced by the Allah-obsessed Saracen hordes. Yeah, it’s silly. And frequently the story takes a back seat to the de rigeur epic battle sequences. But that’s to be expected in a production like this. If you come into the experience with that in mind, you’ll get pretty much exactly what you pay for. Mildly amusing