Two years ago, Ridley Scott released the underrated The Last Duel, which went on to be largely ignored coming out of the pandemic, but still has its fans. I was recently putting together material for my Best Of 2023 lists for this year, and I noticed that my 2021 Award for Best Director went to Ridley Scott for The Last Duel. So, when i say Napoleon is not his best, please understand this is a man who is a very undervalued titan in this industry.

Ridley Scott, who has never won an Oscar, is back again this year with Napoleon, a film largely forgotten about in favor of Apple’s major contender Killers Of The Flower Moon. Ridley Scott is 86, and we are just flat out running out of time. This year, he has Gladiator 2, which I hope changes its title, and he just signed to direct the BeeGees biopic. God love him. At 86, he’s cranking them out.

Napoleon is ambitious, but flawed. I take in all the criticisms about this film, and some are valid. The big complaint I hear is that Joaquin Phoenix doesn’t fit here, for one reason or another. It’s actually a valid complaint, as Phoenix feels absolutely out of place as an American actor who isn’t doing an accent, surrounded by British actors pretending to be French. This happens quite a bit, with historical epics, as British actors just play make believe. Notably, the exceptional Chernobyl series featured no one actually attempting an accent that would be accurate to where they were. Here, the British seemingly rule France, and Joaquin’s American accent stands out like a sore thumb. Our ears are also trained, as Americans, to hear these elevated dialects coming out of the Uk from the likes of Vanessa Kirby and Rupert Everett as inherently historical, and Phoenix’s voice sounds like he just strolled in out of Bo Is Afraid. It is such a bizarre choice, to have him here, to choose these accents, and it has nothing to do with his actual performance.

Had the film been shaped differently, no one would have noticed. If this was a revisionist take on Napoleon, like perhaps Marie Antoinette, than Phoenix could have sat more comfortably among other daring cast choices who sounded more modern like him. This is what people mean when they say you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t have Joaquin Phoenix coming in with his normal voice, against a British cast, and expect no one to notice. I’m quite surprised that the director who allowed Jared Leto to sound like a physical manifestation of a stereotype in House Of Gucci turned around and told Phoenix to don nothing. It’s not like he’s incapable. He had an interesting accent in his Oscar nominated performance in gladiator, which would at least have indicated his ability to do something with his voice.

So, many find it hard to get past that, and I understand it. I thought Phoenix worked with what he was given rather well, and if you can get past it, there’s something there. It was a strong year for Phoenix, who just couldn’t manifest any real awards support for either of his performances. Kirby is fine, but after seeing her in Pieces Of Her, it’s really hard to match that level. She just dosn’t have the dynamic screen time, and the rest of the supporting cast float through like after thoughts.

The battle sequences are well choreographed, I enjoyed the score that merged a sense of French high society with the horrors of war rather well. Most films with this level of violence maintain one tone, but this actually has Napoleon going back and forth, experiencing life in France and on the battlefield, which a re stark contrasts, and something the score does well. I heard too much of the Foley artistry in the sound effects. The mixing was odd, with the work likely done in post coming through much louder than it needed to. Every click was almost explosive, whether it needed to be or not.

I don’t have a problem with the film, and I’d be intrigued by the reported 4 hour directors cut. As long as it has audio description, because these battle sequences absolutely demand it, and wouldn’t have been as impactful without audio description. This film is not for horse lovers, I can tell you that.

It’s not a perfect film, and I question a lot of Scott’s choices, but just like House Of Gucci featured some odd decisions, the final product is still a good one. not a great one, but a good one. Somehow, even though Scott seems to make a decision now with every film that is self inflicted, he’s such a master of his craft that the final product is still a good one. The totality of it all wins.

Final Grade: B