FanUnity B(uzz)log

If you walk into “Kingdom Of Heaven” expecting “Gladiator”, you are going to be let down. “Kingdom Of Heaven” has been marketed as another historical epic from the director who gave us that wonderful film about the vengeful Roman outcast Maximus, and its own marketing may work against it. Audiences walking in to see “Gladiator 2″ will miss what is good about “Kingdom Of Heaven” itself.”Kingdom Of Heaven” is a thoughtful film that ponders heady issues like the reason for war, the true purpose of the state as an entity, the perils of fanaticism of any kind and how potential enemies can become friends through mutual respect rather than desire for dominance. It also a gory action film that jolts with violence in the same brutishly fashion that “Braveheart” and “Gladiator” did.

“Kingdom Of Heaven” is as much related to Scott’s “Black Hawk Down” as it is his “Gladiator.” Like “Black Hawk Down”, “Kingdom Of Heaven” is about war. It shares the situation of our characters being caught in a military mess because their leaders made terrible decisions. It shares the goal of the characters fighting not for outright victory, but the victory that comes in mere survival against overwhelming odds. It features what in the history books is officially scored a loss, but contains within it a certain type of victory that is more important than real estate.

In our highly secular society, a common belief is that the Crusades were religious wars, and that most wars in history have been religious wars. What “Kingdom Of Heaven” illustrates is a very important truth: Wars commonly called religious wars were in many cases not truly motivated by religion at all. In “Kingdom Of Heaven” as in many wars of the Middle Ages era, religion was a surface issue used to lather up the peasants and get them ready to be cannon fodder, while the Lords provoking the wars plotted to gain new lands, new resources and greater personal glory among their peers.

My only complaint about what Ridley Scott seems to be trying to say with “Kingdom Of Heaven” is that he did not balance the negative image of Christianity with any positive image of it as well. He shows loathsome, cowardly and corrupt Church officials, heroic agnostic knights and honorable Muslim enemies. Anyone directly associated with Christianity is shown in a negative light. Jesus wasn’t about killing folks, after all, though many people have killed wrongfully in his name. This is a point many missed at that time, but it would be nice if someone represented the goodness of Christ’s message in the film. The characters on the “crusader” side representing any type of positive philosophy offered a more agnostic worldview.

That being said, “Kingdom Of Heaven” is a thought provoking film whose most important message in this time of strife between the West and Islam is that the two can coexist peacefully, even in harmony and mutual respect, if radical forces on both sides are kept in check by those who understand the message of God to be a message of peace.

3.5/5 Stars.