Elizabeth: The Golden Age DVD Review

"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" reviews

DVD

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-02-25 08:57:47

Provider

DVD Review

Elizabeth's success was fully justified, Shekhar Kapur's film balancing the demands of history and entertainment to produce a riveting account of the celebrated monarch's early years, making a star of Cate Blanchett into the bargain. So what went wrong with the sequel? While it may have got harsh treatment from the critics, there's no doubt Elizabeth: The Golden Age is way too pleased with itself.

There's an underlying smugness about too much here, particularly the panto-villain performances of Samantha Morton and Jordi Molla as the coconspirators Mary Queen of Scots and King Philip of Spain. Blanchett, too, though mostly excellent, hams it up badly during Elizabeth's famous Tilbury speech, while the scriptwriter appears to have taken the source material's inherent fascination and phoned in the dialogue.

But with all that going against it, The Golden Age still cuts a dash across the screen. Geoffrey Rush is magnificent as Francis Walsingham, a secret policeman who's happiest when torturing Catholics or giving his enemies just enough rope to hang themselves. Clive Owen is all impudent charm as Sir Walter Raleigh. Impeccably designed - the costumes look like they were ordered in from London Fashion Week - and generally well-paced, The Golden Age may dumb it all down in search of box office triumph, but as historical romps go, it still has enough puff to blow away most of the opposition.

Extras include: Deleted Scenes; featurettes including The Reign Continues: Making Elizabeth: The Golden Age; Inside Elizabeth's World; Commanding the Winds: Creating the Armada; Towers, Courts and Cathedrals plus there's an Audio Commentary with Director Kapur.