Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte’s relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.
The Independent – “Scott adds bloody spectacle to this empire built on cannon fire. It’s a trademark of his historical work, from his debut, 1977’s The Duellists, up to 2021’s The Last Duel. And, in an effort to truncate so many notable events into one, two-and-a-half-hour film, he expresses a formidable efficiency in visual language.” (full review here)
The Guardian – “Phoenix plays Napoleon as a military genius and lounge lizard peacock who is incidentally no slouch on horseback. Others might show Napoleon as a dreamy loner, but for Scott he is one half of a rackety power couple: passionately, despairingly in love with Vanessa Kirby’s pragmatically sensual Josephine. Scott makes this warring pair the Burton and Taylor of imperial France.” (full review here)
