After a long weekend away from reviewing, I have returned with the second review for Ridley Scott month! However, this film granted a dull biography on Christopher Columbus's life. A wasted cast, poorly paced timeline, and odd score add up to create a lackluster film that uses a grand scale to underwhelm its audience. Gerard Depardieu gives off a strong performance with what he is given, but ceases to bring the audience fully into the film. I loved his speeches, but they seemed too short and the movie felt too driven away from his performance.
The film moves from place to place, which is expected in a film about an explorer. But, the pace is offbeat, causing the audience to feel transported into confusion. While in one scene, Columbus is in San Salvador, the next scene he is in Spain talking to Isabel. This leaves a huge gap that left me feeling like I was lacking quite a bit of information. Of course, a film cannot span a whole person's life in two hours and thirty minutes, but maybe Scott should not have focused on his whole life if he could not manage to firmly connect each piece of the story.
Lastly, the soundtrack to the film felt completely out of place. As a student who has studied music, I enjoyed the music on the soundtrack (mainly the theme), but could not find its connection to the film. It just felt too grand and modern for this period piece, detracting from the setting and causing a sense cheesiness with its electric sounds. Certainly, Vangelis is a unique composer for film but he should not have composed this type of music for film.
The Bottom Line: If you are a fan of Ridley Scott, this film might be a disappointment because it fails to become the epic that it strives to be.
Score: 6/10
The film moves from place to place, which is expected in a film about an explorer. But, the pace is offbeat, causing the audience to feel transported into confusion. While in one scene, Columbus is in San Salvador, the next scene he is in Spain talking to Isabel. This leaves a huge gap that left me feeling like I was lacking quite a bit of information. Of course, a film cannot span a whole person's life in two hours and thirty minutes, but maybe Scott should not have focused on his whole life if he could not manage to firmly connect each piece of the story.
Lastly, the soundtrack to the film felt completely out of place. As a student who has studied music, I enjoyed the music on the soundtrack (mainly the theme), but could not find its connection to the film. It just felt too grand and modern for this period piece, detracting from the setting and causing a sense cheesiness with its electric sounds. Certainly, Vangelis is a unique composer for film but he should not have composed this type of music for film.
The Bottom Line: If you are a fan of Ridley Scott, this film might be a disappointment because it fails to become the epic that it strives to be.
Score: 6/10
