Kingdom of Heaven
If there is a Kingdom of Heaven, it is certainly a place of magnitude beyond the comprehension of any mortal man. So is the politically and racially charged situation in the Middle East, specifically the Holy Land that includes and surrounds the city of Jerusalem. It was a lot to absorb 1,000 years ago, it's a lot to absorb today, and Kingdom of Heaven's attempt to superimpose today's predicament over the wars of the Crusades fails desperately. It's tough enough to make one historical epic compelling, much less two at the same time, and the ill-advised task is simply too overwhelming for Ridley Scott. Characters come and go with little rhyme or reason, and the moral of the story ends up boiling down to the simplistic knight's code of always telling the truth and defending the helpless. To start the third act the film's hero, Balian (Orlando Bloom is no leading man, by the way), makes a long-winded speech to his troops that could actually be summed up with the phrase, "Why can't we all just get along?" That hardly does today's or yesterday's history justice. Despite it's exhilarating battle scenes and exemplary recreation of 12th century Jerusalem, Kingdom of Heaven simply has too much going on for it's own good.