Elizabeth: The Golden Age Review

"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" reviews

Movie

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-09-12 20:59:35

Rating

2.5/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

God save Cate Blanchett. Without her performance, this second history lesson on Elizabeth I's reign would be a little dry.

Story

It's 1585 and Elizabeth Tudor (Blanchett) is well into her third decade as Queen of England, slightly older but just as exquisite—and just as wary of the enemies at her gate. Led by Spain's Philip II (Jordi Molla), a fundamentalist Catholic movement is sweeping 16th century Europe, and they view Elizabeth as a Protestant heretic. Philip and his supporters have rallied round Elizabeth's exiled Catholic cousin, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton), waiting for their chance to usurp the Virgin Queen's throne and restore Catholicism in England. The queen's trusted advisor, Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), keeps the wolves at bay, but Elizabeth is in constant danger. She finds some comfort in the company of her favorite lady-in-waiting, Bess (Abbie Cornish), as well as the dashing explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), whom Elizabeth sees not only as an intellectual and spirited equal but also as a way to glimpse into the unexplored globe's infinite freedom—something the Queen can never have. But when an assassination plot goes awry, Elizabeth shifts her energies back to her country, setting off a chain of events that will change the course of history.

Acting

Just like the Queen Elizabeth herself, Blanchett is also slightly older but wiser and even more poised and beautiful than she was playing the Virgin Queen the first time in the 1998 Elizabeth. That film helped put the actress on the map and gave her her first Oscar nomination—and a second nomination for playing the same character shouldn't be far behind. Blanchett gives this enigmatic queen such flawed humanity. She's all at once regal, sarcastic, knowing, jealous and loving—and above all, a true queen to her people. Although The Golden Age is clearly Blanchett's movie, the supporting cast is also superb, especially Rush, whose aging Walshingham isn't nearly as aggressive as he was in Elizabeth but still formidable, and Owen as the charismatic Raleigh, who clicks in more ways than one with Blanchett. By God, Queen Elizabeth needed a real man and if Raleigh had had any royal lineage, she may have married him. Instead, she has to pawn him off on Bess--played sweetly but blandly by Cornish (A Good Year)--and live vicariously through them, until their union gets the better of her and she banishes them. Elizabeth is a woman, after all. Morton, too, does an admirable job as the doomed Queen Mary, heaving breasts and stoic resolve to her ultimate demise.

Direction

As with his original Oscar-winning Elizabeth, director Shekhar Kapur clearly loves the splendor and pageantry of the 16th century royal court and serves up another visual treat with The Golden Age. The costumes are once again spectacular, as are the sets. The battle between the British navy and the Spanish Armada is particularly stunning, especially as a victorious Elizabeth stands on a high bluff, wind blowing, looking into the horizon at a sea of burning Spanish ships. Highly effective. Kapur isn't very subtle in his depiction of the bad guys, either. King Philip is almost Golum-like, walking in a weird way, mumbling and constantly rubbing his rosary beads. At any moment, you expect him to hiss, "My precioussssssss." Creepy. But where Kapur's Golden Age fails is in its pacing. While the first Elizabeth was intriguing in the making of a queen, Golden Age plods through Elizabeth's anxieties and insecurities, even if Cate Blanchett is riveting in almost every frame. Things only really get going when Elizabeth forgets about being a lonely woman and gets her head in the war game. There's also the fact that the masses may have had their fill of historical movies about this time period—from HBO's excellent Elizabeth I (which is, in essence, the same story) to even Showtime's The Tudors. Chalk this Golden Age up to bad timing.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 2 1/2 stars.

Movie

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2007-10-26 16:00:05

Provider

Review

Well they couldn't call it Elizabeth II - that would've confused things. As it is, Elizabeth: The Golden Age is the lesser of all the right royal films (its predecessor and The Queen) by a distance, turning one of the most fascinating and colourful periods of English history into little more than an extended flirtation between the Virgin Queen (Cate Blanchett, reprising her role from the massively superior Elizabeth) and Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen, conveying as much impudence and sexuality as decorum and a script so leaden it could be used to roof churches will permit).

Samantha Morton arrives Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth's doomed and imprisoned cousin, frantically plotting with King Philip of Spain (Jordi Molla) to dethrone her sister and restore England to Catholicism. Both are reduced to little more than caricatures though, Morton all tics and twitches and Molla as an all-purpose villain with the depth of a spoon. Cunningly keeping an eye on it al is Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), the spymaster general, happily torturing dissident Catholics and ensnaring the foolish Mary into incriminating herself all the way to the chopping block.

Walsingham is played with a quiet brilliance by Rush, the only character here allowed any serious moral ambiguity whilst everyone else charges around as if rehearsing parts for a Tudor pageant. Even Blanchett, magnificent on her way to stardom in Elizabeth, stumbles, particularly during the justly famous Tilbury speech, when her determination to give her set-piece some welly renders her more suited to Henry V than Elizabeth I. Sadly it's all too typical of this sequel, which gives the Golden Age a arm our tin coating. You have to admit that the leads ands the sets both look lavish and lovely though.