Kingdom of Heaven

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A gargantuan epic, a historical adventure-drama of overwhelming visual grandeur.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Bloom finally comes into his own as a man here, somberly thoughtful and melancholic. The elfin archer of "The Lord of the Rings" and the trivial boy-toy of "Troy" have been forgotten.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Better than "Gladiator" -- deeper, more thoughtful, more about human motivation and less about action.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Its concept is gutsy, its script is literate and intelligent, its visuals and cinematic craftsmanship are mouth-dropping, and its vision of the insanity of various religions vying to dominate the real estate of the Holy Land comes through with great power.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

In its depiction of a fleeting, but nevertheless factual, peace in the Middle East, Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven may seem a more quixotic Hollywood fantasy than all six Star Wars movies lumped together.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Genuinely spectacular and historically quite respectable, Ridley Scott's latest epic is at its strongest in conveying the savagery spawned by fanaticism.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Fulfills the requirements of grand-scale moviemaking while serving as a timely reminder that in the conflict between Christianity and Islam it was the Christians who picked the first fight.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Full of astonishments, not the least of which are its ideas.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Scott and company have gotten so accomplished at re-creating history that the results have a welcome offhanded quality, making them spectacular without seeming to be showing off.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

The story's parallels with the present are sometimes inescapable, as when Saladin's fireballs catapulted at Balian's castle strike an eerie resemblance to the "shock and awe" of the U.S.-led coalition's initial assault on Iraq.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Screenwriter William Monahan has fashioned an intelligent and highly topical epic. Director Ridley Scott has brought it home with banners flying.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Scott's cast is like a grand orchestra with various performers filling the roles of instruments: Thewlis a wise, ironic oboe; Neeson a stout cello; Norton a slightly battered flute. As it happens, the piece they're playing is a piano concerto and the keyboard -- that is, Bloom -- isn't big enough to match.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A rousing, politically correct, Muslim-sympathetic, $140 million take on the Crusades.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Odd as it is to say, Kingdom of Heaven loses its momentum the more Balian gets religion.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Kingdom of Heaven may have problems, but it delivers.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

So, if you want to see this loud but rather ordinary epic, don't expect its tricked-up cultural and theological messages to carry much water. For entertainment value, it's hard to beat the climactic siege of Jerusalem, a Ridley Scott-perfect half-hour that matches anything in "Troy" or "Gladiator" for sheer, bloody, helmet-bashing mayhem.

Time Richard Corliss

The battle skirmishes here mix sudden violence with slow-motion artistry. The attractive cast can sell an obsession or articulate a conundrum with equal fervor.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Thoughtful and impressively mounted.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Massoud plays Saladin magnetically, and his arrival only illustrates how many opportunities Kingdom misses. Another, better movie would have made him the focus.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Scott, working from a script by William Monahan, is so busy balancing our sympathies, making sure no one gets offended, that he has made a pageant of war that would have gotten a thumbs-up from Eleanor Roosevelt.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

But if the film disappoints on an intellectual level, at least it doesn't skimp on pageantry. This is, without question, one of the most beautifully crafted, visually thrilling war pictures ever made -- a painterly spectacle that leaves you looking for Caravaggio's name in the end credits.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

It's hard to say with assurance whether the flaw is in Bloom's performance or in Monahan's politically correct conception of Balian, precociously secular for a Crusader.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

What sucks the wind out of the movie's sails is the vacuum at its core.

Premiere Peter Debruge

Although Scott seems to be making a point about both parties' ongoing feud for Jerusalem , the movie seems more like a classic Western than a contemporary political allegory.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

For all its scale, grandeur, historical context and political brass, "Kingdom" is no more compelling a period drama than last year's "Alexander."

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

The movie does what any self-respecting politician would do: sidestep the issues, soft-pedal mortal costs, talk a fat game, and divert your attention away from history with exercises in spectacle and power.

Empire Ian Nathan

A frustratingly thin epic. You're left wanting more exposition, more character development, the tidying up of loose ends.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

One imagined that a movie about the Crusades would be gallant and mad; one feared that it might stoke some antiquated prejudice. But who could have dreamed that it would produce this rambling, hollow show about a boy?

Newsweek David Ansen

Fails to rouse any passion. A potentially great subject is frittered away, though this being a Scott movie, there's style to spare.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

A handful of nifty battle scenes and some decent performances aren't quite enough to make Kingdom memorable.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

Scott's ravishing visual style, characterized by a fetishistic attention to surface detail and unrelenting beauty, can work wonders with big subjects, but this is also a director who needs actors powerful enough to shoulder narrative and emotional extremes.

USA Today Mike Clark

Dramatically, even a persuasive supporting cast gets Heaven only so far.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Bottom line: Kingdom of Heaven is the most exciting action-adventure yarn so far this year. Just don't expect anything deeper.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

The movie espouses a kind of Unitarian ecumenical egalitarianism that has about as much to do with medieval times as quantum physics. No one should be offended except -- of course -- those who like movies that excite the mind as well as the pulse.

Slate David Edelstein

I'd have a lot more respect for Scott if he were actually the virtuoso he pretends to be. "Gladiator" had lousy, disjunctive action, and Kingdom of Heaven is even more maladroit.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Ultimately, despite striving mightily to give everyone a fair shake, the film kindled the ire of conservative Christians and Muslims anyway.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

A mostly lumbering, occasionally rousing epic that walks a bizarre line between historical fact and Hollywood wishful thinking.

Wall Street Journal Joanne Kaufmann

While there's gore by the gallon, inventiveness is in short supply.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

This is muddled and oppressive storytelling (the script is by William Monahan) dotted with elaborate but weightless battle sequences.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

To introduce an archetype like this to western audiences -- as the world weathers culturally and religiously demonizing times -- may have been worth this whole flawed movie. Too bad the story didn't just start with him.