Kingdom of Heaven
Review for Kingdom of Heaven

Directed by Ridley Scott

Rated R for strong violence and warfare

Starring Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, Eva Green, Marton Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Ghassan Massoud

My rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars



At what price comes peace? At what price comes war? What is Jerusalem, this Kingdom of Heaven, worth?

Nothing. Everything.

Director Ridley Scott tackles a controversial subject and presents a perspective of the Crusades that is not going to sit well with everyone. Because there is not a “good” or “bad” side – only good or bad people. The choices they make determine what side of the line they fall on. And under the cloak of religious beliefs the reality of politics and ambition are at the heart of the matter. There are fanatics from all denominations, and there are good men who would live in peace with their fellow man. Men of honor and conscience, the disillusioned who once believed in something and now live with the reality of a flawed system, and men corrupt and power hungry.


Enter our hero, Balian, a man who starts the movie as a humble blacksmith, bastard son to Godfrey, Baron of Ibilen. His wife and child have recently died and he is a man who is lost and searching for some answers, some purpose and peace of mind. His father offers him an opportunity to join him in Jerusalem in service of the King, and to aid in the King’s efforts to preserve the fragile peace between Christians and Muslims inhabiting that land. The idealized description Godfrey provides gives Balian a hope that perhaps there he can find some of the answers and forgiveness he is now searching for.

“There you are not what you were born but what you have it in you to become.... A kingdom of conscience, a kingdom of heaven.”

Following his father’s death after an ambush on the way to Jerusalem, young Balian takes to his new life with the devoted zeal of a man who has nothing else to live for and therefore is determined to make the best of what he now has left. His progression from simple blacksmith to talented knight and master of his new lands might seem a bit farfetched, but keeping in mind the idea put forth by the script that who Balian is in this new world is a man living up to his potential, what he has is in him to become, and it becomes fairly easy to forgive the speed of progression and how quickly the simple blacksmith persona is discarded.

While striving to be a “perfect knight” he makes friends with the King of Jerusalem, a man dying of leprosy, catches the eye of his married sister, Princess Sibylla, gains a reputation among the Muslims, and also makes a few enemies along the way, chiefly Sibylla’s husband, a corrupt and power hungry man with ambitions to succeed the throne once the king has died.

Ridley Scott handles the subject material very well, and the cinematography is absolutely breathtaking. The battle scenes are a visceral, bloody nightmare putting the audience right in the middle of the action so that we feel caught in the midst of the carnage. The performances by the actors are decent, with a few standing out memorably, chiefly the actor playing Saladin, King of the Muslims (Ghassan Massoud), and Edward Norton portraying King Baldwin, the dying and yet noble leper king of Jerusalem. Orlando Bloom, in the starring role of Balian, does a credible job of portraying a young man who is simply looking for answers and something to believe in, a man who does not want, in fact, to be a leader, per se, and yet who, in the end, holds true to his code of honor and steps up as the occasion demands and becomes a leader in battle for the sake of protecting helpless innocents. The character is wisely played not with a blustering machismo but rather with a quietly determined and fearless strength that is appealing for his honor and integrity.

I definitely recommend this as an excellent movie that stands out as a “war movie” whose message is very much antiwar.