Kingdom of Heaven

Aroview: Arch-epic of the 12th century crusades, this follows an honourable French blacksmith (Bloom) into the maelstrom of Jerusalem, Muslim-Christian carnage, political machinations and constant rashes of CGI set-dressing.

Recruited by his swashbuckling father (Neeson), he eventually comes into conflict with the dastardly Templars (Csokas, Gleeson) who look to sabotage the flimsy Catholic alliance with the Arab leader Saladin, leading to a bloody chaos reminiscent of a certain current war in the Middle East. Revising the usual lip-service to the culture of traditional 'bad guys' (ie. Islam), this gets halfway there in its historical accuracy, though eventually collapses backwards into a desire for bloodthirsty spectacle with Bloom flailing in his attempts to justify a lead billing.

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