"Kingdom of Heaven”: Message in a Bottle

It's easy to get enraptured in Orlando Bloom's honey brown eyes and to think that maybe they are the "heaven" to which the movie title is referring. But that sentiment dies as soon as heads start rolling and blood starts spraying over the sands surrounding Jerusalem. But even the most enamored of lady viewers will be surprised that "Kingdom of Heaven" is a bit more than eye candy. Though wracked with a shallow and meandering plot, badly developed supporting characters and overzealous political correctness, the film is redeemed, if only slightly, by its well-meaning message and an amazing performance by Edward Norton as King Baldwin.

In his second appearance as a heartsick blacksmith, Bloom plays Bailian, a Frenchman who has just lost his wife to suicide over their dead son. His long lost father (Liam Neeson), a well-respected nobleman and knight, gallops into town to offer him the chance to come to Jerusalem to seek spiritual peace and a place in his court. Over the course of their journey, Bailian finds himself the confidant of a leper king, the enemy of powerful Templars, the lover of a beautiful woman and the protector of a persecuted people.The villains of the film were both Christian and Muslim, so the film tended towards an anti-war theme that served as a dramatic undertone throughout the movie. While the two most prominent Christian bad guys—King-to-be Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas) and violent rebel knight Reynard (Brendan Gleeson)—were of the corrupt, rude, flashy sort of evil, the Muslim military leader Saladin (Ghassan Massoud) was portrayed as a much better person than either of his Christian counterparts.

Though he carried the film well, Bloom was undoubtedly outshone by the stellar performance of Edward Norton as the masked, robed and gloved King Baldwin of Jerusalem. Though this costume restricted his emotiveness, Norton used his eyes, his voice and his body to project the character of a brilliant, wise and loving young man whose body was ravaged by disease but whose mind remained completely untouched.

Though worth a watch for the performances by Norton and newcomer Massoud, as well as for the eye candy levels in both Bloom and Green, "Kingdom of Heaven" isn't the most epic of battle flicks. The wandering plot—one that led awkwardly from battle scenes to romance scenes to preachy "message" scenes—left much to be desired. And at almost two and a half hours, it's a lot of time out of one's day to spend watching dozens of people bleed to death.

"Kingdom of Heaven" (145 minutes) is rated R for strong violence and epic warfare.