'Napoleon' Review: Ridley Scott's Epic Comedic Biopic Comes Up Short in Substance
R: Strong violence, some grisly images, sexual content and brief language
Runtime: 2 Hours and 38 Minutes
Production Companies: Apple Studios, Scott Free Productions
Distributors: Columbia Pictures, Apple Original Films
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: David Scarpa
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Ben Miles, Ludivine Sagnier, Matthew Needham, John Hollingworth, Youssef Kerkour, Phil Cornwell, Édouard Philipponnat, Ian McNeice, Rupert Everett, Paul Rhys, Catherine Walker, Gavin Spokes, Mark Bonnar, Anna Mawn, Davide Tucci, Sam Crane, Scott Handy
Release Date: November 22, 2023
Only In Theaters
Conquerors come in many sizes, but nobody came in a smaller package than Napoleon Bonaparte. He was the original short king (literally) as he was relatively small and the emperor of France. He was also known to be a childish idiot with a megalomaniac ego. And yet, people suffered from his petty tomfoolery. Doesn't that sound familiar? There's a reason why the term "Napoleon complex" exists. As if 2023 didn't need another entry into the "dudes suck" biopic canon alongside Oppenheimer and BlackBerry, here comes icon Ridley Scott to conquer the field with his epic biopic, Napoleon. Compared to its counterparts, Scott's latest comes up short in substance.
The film chronicles the rise and fall of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) in the late 18th century and his checkered relationship with his wife Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby).
I was under the assumption by its marketing that Napoleon would follow a traditionalist biopic format. That is not the case. Instead, the film is a period comedic riff on the titular lead's airheadedness, leading to his rise and downfall as a French ruler. Napoleon has more defining comedic traits than the confusingly-regarded-as-a-comedy The Martian, but not as excessive as his last flick, The House of Gucci. As if screenwriter David Scarpa (All the Money in the World) threw up his hands while researching Bonaparte and said, "Wait, why am I being serious? He's an asshole," his script clowns on him while exemplifying his skillful war tactics. If he and Scott weren't going to make a Trump biopic, this would compensate. Akin to period comedy shows like The Great but with a dreary palette, Scarpa mines hilarious scenes with Napoleon being so pathetic with some of the most quotable dialogue of the year.
Napoleon showcases Joaquin Phoenix’s proficiency in pathetic characters alongside this year's Beau is Afraid. As the French emperor, he relishes his sheer idiocy and insecurity, and his comic timing makes Scarpa's script come alive.
The most vigorous beats often stem from Bonaparte getting cuckolded by his promiscuous yet cunning wife, Joséphine, played by a chilling Vanessa Kirby. Their complicated relationship is certainly undercooked, albeit their power dynamic is often the best of Scarpa's comedic abilities. The man is as useless as every modern man in finance: has power, can't make women cum, projects their insecurities onto her when she finally gets herself off with someone else, then says stuff like, "I'm not subject to petty insecurity" (actual dialogue) right after he throws a hissy fit. It's just so funny. If not there, then it's meeting with other rulers where he tries to intimidate his adversaries, and let's say, his Napoleon complex comes out.
Compared to Scott's previous projects, Napoleon runs statically in scenes where the commander isn't on the battlefield. When illustrating the notable Napoleonic wars, his large-scale epic sensibilities return in peak Scott fashion. The Battle of Austerlitz sequence marks the film's apex as every technical facet hits the height of his abilities. Apart from portraying the leader's strategist proficiency, it's a grand reminder that Scott is still that bitch behind the lens and one of the remaining visionaries who know how to conduct tactical direction.
I was pleasantly surprised by Napoleon's comedic identity and thoroughly shocked by this probably being the biggest-budgeted studio comedy released recently. With acknowledgment of the humor and production quality, the film lacks any significance outside the obvious about Napoleon’s childish character.
The film is in a continuous pendulum swing of tonal inconsistency for most of its runtime. The first twenty minutes crafts a significantly dissimilar tone, for it emphasizes graphic imagery on the changing hierarchy in France with the gruesome beheading of Marie Antoinette and also the reign of terror. The gory imagery matches Dariusz Wolski's grayish cinematography. However, an entirely different movie forms as the film pivots to silliness quicker than Phoenix dropped his poor attempt at an accent.
I couldn't help but think of Armando Iannucci and his 2017 flick The Death of Stalin, where he fluently combined black comedy and barbarity in his telling of a European power struggle. But if we're referring to the other "dudes suck" biopics, Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) and Matthew Johnson (BlackBerry) were masters at tone control. They had at least taken its theme of man's hubris with some lyricism and distinctive style. Oppenheimer bore innovation through a unique framing device and concise message with its large budget and well-paced editing. Then, BlackBerry, which bleeds a similar tone, mined factual aspects of the company's history and played it up with natural hilarity and a handheld style that complemented it. There needs to be more thematic material mined for Scott and Scarpa's riff on Napoleon, as they had nothing to convey about him, France, or its former monarchy. They practically dig up his skull and say, "Man wasn't this guy a little shit? Fuck this guy." And no, a four-hour cut (which is happening) will not mend this feature's issues. AMC+ is doing a three-hour version of BlackBerry, but its theatrically released cut was still excellent.
The only intriguing fact about Napoleon comes in the ending text, which states that three million people died under his rule. But saying, "This man sucked, his wife sucked, and people died because of his ego," is not a discussion, and blowing the film up to nearly three hours with little information value makes it even more pretentious.
Despite a sufficient Joaquin Phoenix comedic performance and classic Hollywood war sequences, Scott and Scarpa's muddled examination of Napoleon doesn't go beyond stating, "He was a sad, strange little man," for 160 minutes.
