Napoleon (2023)

Ridley Scott has created an outrageously enjoyable full-tilt biopic that dispenses with symbolic weight in favour of spectacle centred on Joaquin Phoenix's magnificent performance as Napoleon. The critic singles out Phoenix's satiric, preening portrayal of the military genius and power couple dynamic with Vanessa Kirby's Josephine for particular praise.

The critic praises it as a dynamite biopic with a compelling psychological portrait, highlighting the interplay between battlefield successes and domestic struggles with Josephine.

Ridley Scott brings his A game to a gripping, often delightfully lairy slab of pop history made with mischief, flash and meticulous craft, emerging as a tale of war, power and brisk postprandial sex. The critic singles out the brash and swaggering but oddly grown-up tone and the director's comparison of visions with Napoleon.

Scott delivers a brash, thrilling and blood-soaked epic focused on Napoleon’s obsessions with power and Josephine. The film excels in its brutal battle sequences and complex central relationship but glosses over some historical episodes.

Ridley Scott’s high-budget historical epic is a perfect match for his talents, delivering coherent battle scenes and a strong lead performance from Joaquin Phoenix. The film balances spectacle with character contradictions and witty supporting turns.

Scott presents Napoleon as an immutable force of nature driven by fragile ego, with Phoenix’s thorny performance highlighting his flaws and insecurities. Exceptional battle scenes and the central romance make for a lavish, thoughtful drama that remains entranced by its subject.

The film delivers one whopping epic sight after another in spectacular battle scenes, but what stands out most is the tempestuous romance between Napoleon and Josephine, with Vanessa Kirby bewitching as the real star. The critic praises Kirby's performance and the satirical edge away from the battlefield.

The critic finds Ridley Scott’s biopic eminently watchable thanks to spectacular set pieces and bedchamber melodrama, despite an academic approach to the subject. Phoenix and Kirby’s performances humanise the central couple amid the grand battle recreations.

The critic finds the film weirder than expected, with Phoenix delivering a funny, contemporary performance of an insecure Napoleon focused on his relationship with Joséphine, making it a perversely entertaining portrait despite weak historiography.

Scott’s epic looks impressive but lacks flavour and a clear point of view, prioritising battles over deeper character insight. Phoenix and Kirby shine in the central relationship, though the film feels like a history lesson without enough story.

The review calls the film a bloated take that ricochets between battlefield and bedroom, with Phoenix’s anti-charismatic performance and the focus on Josephine distracting from the epic war footage. Scott’s staging of battles is praised as a highlight amid the uneven execution.

The critic describes the film as a lavish but threadbare epic that punctures Napoleon’s mystique through comic rage and carnage, yet lacks coherent purpose or deeper insight. Vanessa Kirby’s mesmerizing performance as Joséphine is highlighted as holding the movie together.

The critic finds the film not good overall and a turgid drag with faltering rhythms. Phoenix's weird, buffoonish performance is singled out as the one memorable element amid the lack of an animating idea.

The film is an entertaining and plausible interpretation of Napoleon as a micromanager who gets his kicks from wars and sex, with a deadpan, idiosyncratic tone that undercuts traditional historical epics. Scott presents a funny close-up of the man rather than a broader account of his life.

The critic finds the film more ambitious than involving overall. Phoenix and Kirby's central performances and chemistry are singled out as the most alive elements amid the sprawling, narratively sludgy epic.

The critic finds the film consistently surprising for its refusal to conform to epic conventions and its unromanticized portrait of Napoleon as a petulant, vain figure. Joaquin Phoenix’s mesmerizing, lumpish performance is singled out as the standout element.

Ridley Scott delivers one of his best films since Gladiator with a precise, masterfully acted epic that knows its audience. It is genuinely thrilling and the very definition of a must-see film, with strong performances across the board.

The critic praises the film's monumental scale and grandiosity under Ridley Scott's direction, along with commanding performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby that make the compressed historical narrative engrossing and frequently hilarious.

The critic finds Ridley Scott's biopic a psychologically complex but brilliantly staged epic that succeeds thanks to Joaquin Phoenix's charismatic lead performance as a master of war. The battle sequences, especially Austerlitz and Waterloo, are singled out for their visceral, visually striking execution.

The review calls it an unmissable historical epic with terrific battle scenes and strong performances, especially Phoenix's, recommending it despite historical inaccuracies.

The critic praises the film's visceral and graphic battle sequences as phenomenal and overwhelming, along with the strong performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby in their toxic, co-dependent relationship. It is called an epic crowd-pleaser and Ridley Scott's best work since The Martian.

The critic describes the film as an anti-Great Man biopic that uses Napoleon's tumultuous marriage to Joséphine to explore masculine insecurity and its violent consequences. It praises the meticulously rendered battles and the focused, subversive portrayal of the central relationship.

Scott views Napoleon with a mix of awe and scorn, portraying him as an emotionally stunted man-child in a cold, clinically observed biopic. The film excels in its spectacular battle sequences while undermining the 'great man' myth with a focus on his volatile, unerotic relationship with Josephine.

The critic sees the film as an unexpected comedy delight satirizing Napoleon through his odd romance with Joséphine, praising the performances of Phoenix and Kirby and Scott's epic filmmaking, while noting it may not appeal to French audiences.

The review finds the theatrical cut rushed and surface-level, like a CliffsNotes version that fails to fully explore Napoleon's character or rise to power, though it stages battles masterfully and benefits from Vanessa Kirby's strong performance as Joséphine. The critic looks forward to a longer director's cut.

The review sees the film as an ambitious but uneven triple mix of blockbuster action, tragic romance, and great-man deconstruction that lacks overall clarity and commitment. It singles out the battle sequences for their impressive scale and visceral impact while faulting the satirical and emotional elements.

The critic finds the epic dry and unintentionally funny overall, with Phoenix unable to settle on a consistent tone between immaturity and leadership, though battle scenes deliver spectacle.