Joaquin Phoenix gives the absolute worst performance of his career as Napoleon Buonaparte, choosing to portray one of history’s most famously charismatic leaders, as a wooden cutout. No movie these days would be complete without Reddit/Marvel-tier quipped dialogue, and this screenplay provides it in spades. Many of the events that would naturally adapt to the big screen are skipped in favor of shots of Phoenix crawling under tables like some fucked up dog. No mention is made of Italy, and Spain and Haiti are skipped over as to avoid portraying the subject in any kind of negative light. Irresponsible and reactionary filmmaking shines through in a script that truly feels like it was written by chatgpt. The film concludes with him suddenly dying in a part that reminded me of the poochy “my planet needs me” bit. Do not waste your time. I was expecting a cheesy Hollywood retelling and it didn’t even do that, despite having more than enough source material to do so.

  • Egon
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    3 months ago

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    • Fishroot [none/use name]
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      1 year ago

      I lost all interest when Ridley Scott decided to cut the part where Napoleon falsely tries to convert to the true faith of the prophet Mohammed which led to his downfall in waterloo

      • Red_Sunshine_Over_Florida [he/him]
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        edit-2
        1 year ago

        A movie just on Napoleon in Egypt would have been more interesting. Its a less explored topic than say the battle of Waterloo.

        • huf [he/him]
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          1 year ago

          or napoleon in italy. poor, badly equipped soldiers, little plucky nobody napoleon betting big AND ACTUALLY PULLING IT OFF.

          and it's not fucking waterloo. who cares. most covered part of the whole thing, because the english were in it.

          • Vncredleader
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            1 year ago

            The Italian campaign would be AMAZING. Give us his speech to the Army of Italy dammit

        • YuccaMan [he/him]
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          1 year ago

          Seriously, reading Andrew Roberts' biography of him, I came away thinking Napoleon had genuinely lost his mind when I read his writings from the period. It's been a while, but I recall that he harbored fevered fantasies of going rogue and installing himself as some kind of latter day pharoah or caliph in Egypt and creating some grand new society in his image. A movie about the Egyptian campaign would be entertaining as fuck.

          • Red_Sunshine_Over_Florida [he/him]
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            1 year ago

            Great concept. That is a movie I'd watch. One man's descent into megalomania, maybe foreshadowing his eventual seizing of power and turning his laurel crown into an imperial one.

            • YuccaMan [he/him]
              ·
              1 year ago

              Right? There's so much untapped entertainment value with Napoleon, but all that anyone seems to want to do is Waterloo, Russia, and Austerlitz

            • MaoTheLawn [any, any]
              ·
              1 year ago

              like Aguirre, Wrath of God by Werner Herzog

              the proof of concept is there

          • GarbageShoot [he/him]
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            1 year ago

            But think of an alt history film where he actually does it and it goes to shit

            • YuccaMan [he/him]
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              1 year ago

              We need more counterfactual history movies in this world, and I'd watch the hell out of that one

    • Pastaguini [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      1 year ago

      It’s even worse than that - they shoot the pyramids.

    • BelieveRevolt [he/him]
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      1 year ago

      Has this guy in fact been coasting off of the reputation of the two good movies he made for like 40 years? thinking-about-it

      • UlyssesT
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        18 days ago

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    • UlyssesT
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      18 days ago

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      • VILenin [he/him]
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        1 year ago

        Well it did give us Reds. So what I’m saying is it’s ok when we do it. Most of the time it just gives us dumb bullshit from long-past-relevant prehistoric filmmakers trying to relive their glory days by making shitty mobster films and casting their prehistoric actor buddies and deaging them so they look like an affront-to-god experimental lab creature that looks 35 but acts 100.

        • oktherebuddy
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          1 year ago

          idk why you had to unload a mag into Scorsese but his films all kick ass even (especially) the one with de-aged grandpa De Niro

          • pumpchilienthusiast [comrade/them, any]
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            1 year ago

            nooo deaged grandpa deniro dont toe me death! careful, you might lose your balance, fall, break your hip, and slowly decline. nooo, grandpa denirooooo

            • oktherebuddy
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              edit-2
              1 year ago

              yeah that scene sucked but it was basically irrelevant to the heart of the film, which is about how life keeps going and you grow old, seeing all the high drama and intrigue and murder you destroyed your entire life over be rendered meaningless because everyone involved just decays & dies of old age. It was almost a response to film itself and an argument against seeing your life through the lens of having some sort of plot.

        • UlyssesT
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          18 days ago

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          • Fishroot [none/use name]
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            1 year ago

            What I say is bullshit is the "this visionary genius who has the most prominent name on this movie you like is implied to have singlehandedly made that movie and therefore unfettered control over an upcoming movie will surely be at least as good" belief that almost never goes as promised.

            so like Nolan?

            • UlyssesT
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              18 days ago

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                • UlyssesT
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                  18 days ago

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                • Pastaguini [he/him]
                  hexagon
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  This movie and Oppenheimer had a lot in common, although this made Oppenheimer look like a masterpiece. Both films suffer because they’re both so obsessed with their subjects that they claustrophobically center the entire movie on them instead of exploring the interesting worlds they inhabit.

                  • Fishroot [none/use name]
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                    1 year ago

                    Oppenheimer is the ''I'm a genius but I'm stuck between 2 rocks'' -type movie. It is a movie made for NYC PMCs

    • duderium [he/him]
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      1 year ago

      I lost all interest in the movie when Ridley Scott had Napoleon get infected by the magic black goo which turned him into a zombie.

      • Egon
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        3 months ago

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