’Napoleon’ review: A bold character study that doesn’t show its work

Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Joaguin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby, the only thing Napoleon conquers as a film is disappointment.

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Grandiose palaces. Intense Drama. Legendary battles that shaped the course of history. All of these ideas have become synonymous with Napoleon Bonaparte and have been central to the countless films and TV series featuring the character, often highlighting his military prowess like in Abel Gance’s nearly five-hour 1927 biopic Napoléon. Or shining a light on more obscure aspects of his personality like Henry Coster’s Désirée (1954). This doesn’t mean that Napoleon adaptations are too good for jokes. Both the Night at the Museum and Bill and Ted films constantly present a more humorous portrayal of the infamous French emperor. Ridley Scott’s latest biographical film, however, tries to do both.

Napoleon attempts to use the language of a historical epic to provide a satire on our relationship with historical figures that, despite beautiful production design, outstanding battle sequences, and grounded performance results in a limp biopic that can’t settle on an approach. David Scarpa’s script revolves around the life of Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix), whom we are first introduced to in 1793 as a Corsican artillery commander navigating France’s post-revolutionary Reign of Terror with outstanding dexterity.

He rises through the ranks of a tumultuous Republic to become its ruthless Emperor, only to slowly lose his grip on power as he struggles to navigate Europe’s changing geopolitical climates. The film follows the standard beats of a historical epic, spanning decades of Bonaparte’s career and structuring itself as a series of vignettes that highlight his landmark achievements and most challenging moments. 

The Emperor has no clothes.

What sets Napoleon apart is its particular emphasis on the man’s interpersonal relationships. Much of its framing mechanisms are voice-overs from Napoleon to his wife, Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby), a widowed member of French high society whom he falls in love with and eventually marries. Despite showcasing the Siege of Toulon, the battles of Austerlitz, and the defeat at Waterloo — and devoting ample screen time to military tactics on the battlefield — the central drama of the movie revolves around the emerging tension between Napoleon and Josephine as they struggle to have a son and navigate life as a couple with drastically opposing personalities. 

Scott’s Napoleon is not the charismatic history-book hero audiences might recognize. Instead, Phoenix plays an irritable, socially awkward, and insecure version of Napoleon, whose fragile ego gets in the way of his intelligence. But despite being the film’s most interesting point, this somewhat unconventional portrayal ends up being detrimental to the movie as a whole.

For one thing, the film misses an opportunity to actually explain, even subtly, the factors justifying Napoleon’s emotional shortcomings. Hints of feeling underestimated because of his Corsican origin or a troubled relationship with his mother certainly exist, but the film never truly develops these ideas and instead opts to constantly repeat its premise as it jumps through decades of French history, feeling then like a series of vignettes that are loosely connected under the idea of Napoleon’s odd personality punctuated by a series of epic battle sequences depicting his conquest of Europe. 

Both too little and too much.

A meandering structure is common in historical epics of this scale, but as Napoleon walks the line between focused character study and historical epic, its focus starts to waver and fails to solidify any engaging conflict between Napoleon and the people around him, like Paul Barras (Tahar Rahim), Armand de Caulaincourt (Ben Mikes), and, most importantly, Joséphine. The time left to breathe amidst the action is never used to develop the central relationship, and the battles are presented without the meaningful context that would allow them to emphasize the stakes. It feels like two disjointed movies that keep interrupting each other and only leave bits and pieces to the audience. 

There are some positives, thankfully. The film’s depiction of its titular character is a fascinating choice, serving as a constant satire on the idealization of historical figures and the often false equivalence of success, virtue, and happiness. It’s genuinely amusing to see such a grandiose character deliver incredibly funny and awkward one-liners such as “Destiny led me to this pork chop.” Moreover, the battle sequences are fantastic, perfectly balancing the elegance of the strategy of the time with sheer gruesomeness. Scott even incorporates horror elements in sequences during the Battle of Austerlitz that are incredibly effective and reminiscent of the beach bombings during Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. Sure, they’re wildly historically inaccurate, but at least they’re a romp. And yes, the film boasts marvelous production design, exceptional blocking, and beautiful costumes. It’s just a shame that the story doesn’t match up.

The bottom line.

Films that satirize political figures in unflattering ways can be tremendously effective. Armando Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin pokes fun at the entire Soviet political establishment in this way, for example. But that film partly excels the standard because it knows when not to take itself too seriously. If the aim is to be comedic, the awesome grandeur of Napoleon gets in the way of the joke. But if the goal was to genuinely explore the nuances of these characterizations, the film would have benefitted from an extra hour, which is odd to say given its 157-minute runtime. Still, spending more time in the court with Napoleon and Josephine, plus providing much-needed context for the various battles, could have given this film some serious staying power.

Despite its flaws, it’s hard to hate a film like Napoleon. In a year where historical adaptations such as Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon are making a dent not only in the box office but also in pop culture, it’s quite exciting to see that a movie can take risks within this format and poke fun at historical figures to question our relationship with them. Rather than a biopic that more or less just fizzles out on arrival.

Napoleon is now playing in theaters. Watch the trailer here.

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Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing and Apple Original Films. Read more articles by Pedro Graterol here.