On Kingdom of Heaven

For us-uns who watch a theater movie every weekend while in the States, 6 weeks in Germany of no movies in the theater was very strange. Not tough, mind you, because we were traveling to wonderful cities in Europe, which more than made up for a thousand movies in theaters.

However, once home, how were we to pick one movie to see from the many new releases! I convinced Donica that it needed to be one that should only/first be seen on the big screen. The others we can catch later on DVD. And that's why we picked Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven.

The movie hasn't received the best of reviews (shame on them), but I really liked Roger Ebert's because it said exactly what we felt. He says "Kingdom of Heaven is better than Gladiator-- deeper, more thoughtful, more about human motivation and less about action." He also believes Scott is "a brave man to release a movie at this time about the wars between Christians and Muslims for control of Jerusalem."

What we liked about the movie is what it says directly/indirectly about war in general. My own theory about why some people don't like Orlando Bloom in the lead role is that he's too gentle and peaceful (too Legolas-like?). He should be more testosterone-riddled and quicker on the draw when it comes to war. Don't get me wrong, Orlando's character is not perfect, even though I often saw him as a Jesus-figure. He will definitely fight vehemently when it comes to protecting his people.

But war for the sake of war? No-Siree-Sir. He reminded me more of the stereotypical woman who would much rather take the course of negotiation.

And BTW, as our hairdresser says, he's very easy on the eyes! I recommend the movie for that alone. He has come into his own as a leading male, I don't care what anyone else says!