Kingdom of Heaven (R)
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Marton Csokas, Ghassan Massoud, and Liam Neeson.

Motion pictures are never considered entertainment no longer. Film critics were created to criticize every flaw in films. Kingdom of Heaven is a prime example in film criticism. Almost every film critic hated the film but I loved every minute of it. I felt for the characters, I cheered for the characters, I hated the villains, and was deeply saddened everytime a major character was killed. Most of the film reviews I have read criticize the historical inaccuracies, the script, some of the performances, and they complain how boring the film is. I am going to break my review into five pieces: Performances, Script, Music, Direction, and Negatives.

Performances:
Many critics have criticized Orlando Bloom for being such a bad actor on this film. I didn't see Bloom have a poor performance in this film. He absolutely did a great job. Sure, it will not win him any Academy Awards and it was not as commanding as the Russell Crowe performance from Gladiator, but his acting here is admirable and commendable. Bloom is surrounded by a wide array of fascinating performances from the stoic Liam Neeson to a gruff but honorable Jeremy Irons. There are two performances here I want to mention: Ghassan Massoud as the lead of the Muslims and Edward Norton as King Baldwin IV. Massoud has such a great intensity and power to his role that you actually believe he is the most well respected king in the word at that time. Everytime Massoud is onscreen with Orlando, not only does he tower over him he demolishes him. But there's an even better performance and it's from one of the world's greatest actors of our generation, Edward Norton. Norton has had an incredible list of roles in the past but this one towers them all. I truly cared for his character in this film and his performance is truly special. It is hard to be emotional while wearing a silver mask (which he does when he's onscreen) but somehow Norton pulls it off. During a crucial scene between Baldwin and Sybilla (Eva Green), it is truly heart-wrenching. At the end of the film, I still couldn't believe it was Edward Norton onscreen, he truly was that good.

Script:
Again, the critics are saying the script is bad. Well, there are some memorable lines in the film, especially the scene where Sybilla speaks to her dying brother. While not the best script in the world, it is definitely better than past epics such as Alexander and Troy.

Music:
The music in this film is absolutely mind-blowing. My brain was going nuts from all the wonderful music blasting through the speakers. When King Baldwin dies, there's a piece that almost brought tears to my eyes because it was so beautiful.

Direction:
Ridley Scott was born to direct films like this. Every shot in the film is magnificent and the production design from Arthur Max is absolutely detailed and beautiful.

The Negatives:
There are some bad points to the film and it's mainly from an editing standpoint. The original cut of the film runs about 220 minutes (this cut runs 145) and some scenes felt cut and paste. A lot of the character development was also left on the cutting room floor (maybe this is why critics hated the film), also left on the cutting room floor were subplots involving Sybilla and her young son, added scenes such as Balian and Sybilla making love, Saladin decapitating Reynald himself, Hospitalier giving a speech about praying for the things he must endure, and possibly other missing scenes.

Conclusion:
This is one of the best films of the year; filmmaking at its truest, absolute best. Don't trust the critics and watch the film.

Grade: A-