Reviewed by Peter Veugelaers © 2005
- Don't be deceived -- get out of cinema quick!

 The conquests and life of Alexander, the ruler of the ancient Greek empire, may be such a character who will not move audiences, his behaviour unrelated to the average audience member, the bloodthirsty adventures don’t do much for identifying or relating to a tangible human side. The Alexander bio-pic could be dead end emotionally.

 Director Oliver Stone pays homage and says nothing we didn’t already expect about the Greek warrior depicting the fellow as a masterpiece of mortality, albeit shallowly, and reiterates the point repeatedly as if we are really supposed to get it. He’s a character above the audience and beyond it, but for such an historical figure it is not surprising.  

 Alexander’s reiteration of the humanistic glory of mankind, as manifested in the title character, in easy Greek-speak for beginners, mixes a kind of self absorbed indulgence with telling simply an historical event of grandiose spectacle, and rivals directors Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ for downright obsessiveness.

 The latest attempt at an epic is helmed by an appropriately qualified director whose tendency for focus is legend.

 It came to me as no surprise when Stone had decided to take on Alexander the Great’s exploits against Persia and surrounding territories circa 300 BC in a movie recreation. The director is seamless in metamorphosing myth out of history and unrelenting in portraying characters like Gordon Geeko (Wall Street) and Vietnam vet Ron Kovic (Born on the Fourth of July) who like JFK’s Jim Garrison stand apart for various ideals, even ignoble ones.

 On a massive palette that shapes its story ambitiously and with a sweep of violence and spectacular imagery Alexander is nevertheless a self important and not overly involving melodramatic dull fest, but it does get the sense of grandeur of the ancients more so than Troy, which was smaller on scale.

 Alexander’s story is told through Ptolemy (Anthony Hopkins) to a scribe, sometimes in voice over narration. This chronicles King Alexander’s early life and relationships with father King Philip (a solid Val Kilmer) and mother Olympias (a fiery Angelina Jolie), which involves a sticky family feud. Then later into his adult life of war with Persia, against the Barbarians, and India, and taking concubine Roxane (Rosario Dawson) from a foreign race and not from his own Macedonian lineage; he dispenses with conspirators in their debacle over his choice of partner. When in India a mutiny is successful against Alexander (Colin Farrell).

 The more convincing portrayal of Alexander here is viewed as a tortured man rather than a warrior, hero, or god, which does not appear to be the intention. Colin Farrell has the right look for a pure Greek hero, like the ones remembered emblazoned in stone, but he is unconvincing.

 Alexander overstates its themes, is banal, with staged dialogue. Hokum symbols, including those in relation to creatures, indicate a stoic understanding of Alexander, and are embarrassingly insulting of the audience’s sensibilities and better judgement.

 Mysterious is the esoteric spirituality of the New Age sounding soundtrack like you have walked into a relaxation exercise, but is merely decorative adding little to the movie as whole. Alexander’s infatuation for his homosexual lover, Hepaiston (Jared Leto), is trite and overdone as to be superficially dramatic.

 The makers are self aware about their story but the importance is lost on the audience; Alexander is a misfire where dramatising appears for the sake of it.