Film Review – Napoleon (2023)

Napoleon out now in UK Cinemas — *Photo Courtesy of Sony Pictures/Apple Original Films*

Ridley Scott’s Napoleon has been much discussed lately as its release date approaches, whether that is because of the director’s comments regarding historical accuracy or because it is a highly anticipated film on a controversial historical figure. Ridley Scott’s films can be hit or miss for me. While his earlier films, like Blade Runner or Alien that have become almost synonyms with his name and style, are iconic and incredibly well executed, some of his most recent films, House of Gucci being just an example, do not deliver their plot nor stakes nearly as well.

Napoleon is an epic historical film that sets out to chronicle the rise and fall of the French emperor and military commander Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix). With little regard for historical accuracy, as Ridley Scott himself has made abundantly clear, the film retraces some key moments in French history, a lot of which is told through some of the most famous battles led by Napoleon, such as the Siege of Toulon, the Battle of Austerlitz and the last battle shown in the movie, the infamous Battle of Waterloo. But Napoleon also focuses on its titular character outside of the military scene as well, showing his importance with Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby) during the whole film.

For a film as long as Napoleon, going over 150 minutes of run-time, it was extremely surprising to me and somewhat disappointing to walk out of the cinema and feel like I had learned next to nothing about Napoleon as a man or the history around him. While a film does not necessarily need to educate, which was definitely not the aim of Ridley Scott’s latest film, a historical film should at the very least give us an understanding of the historical figures it analyses, which I found particularly lacking during the whole movie.

My biggest issue with Napoleon is its tone. While it is completely understandable to want to criticise the figure of Napoleon, I did not think that this was the right way to do so. Much of the film felt like a joke, a parody of itself that fails to understand or make us understand anything about the historical figure it wants to focus on. I would also not be against the use of humour or jokes in such a film, but a lot of the humour in this film falls flat in the film and sometimes feels overplayed, leaving a confused impression of what the tone of the film really should have been.

On the other hand, Vanessa Kirby particularly stands out as Joséphine so much so that I desperately wanted to see her more on screen. As the title suggests, Napoleon himself is the focus of Napoleon and yet I found Joséphine to be a much more layered, magnetic, and overall interesting character who history tends to always forget or live on the sidelines. Another impressive aspect of the film is its battle scenes: the Battle of Austerlitz stands out the most for me, with some incredible shots that I still find myself thinking about days after having seen the film, and so does the Battle of Waterloo with its historical significance and high stakes that come at the end of the film.

Overall, Napoleon did not work for me. Despite its stunning battle scenes, which are impressive in scale and aesthetic, and a fascinating portrayal of Joséphine by Vanessa Kirby, I found much of the film to be forgettable for the rest of it, with only a few memorable scenes. Much of Napoleon felt like a parody of what an epic historical film would want to be with messy writing and a confusing tone that failed to engage me in the history of the characters portrayed on the screen.