Rated PG13

Directed by Shekhar Kapur

Starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish, Jordi Molla

Heidi’s Illustrious Rating: 2

Word of Warning: If you’re a stickler for historical accuracy, this isn’t the movie for you.

I had intended to see this one at the theater, but after reading many scathing reviews, I opted to wait and watch it on my relatively small television set. It finally popped to the top of our Netflix queue and after viewing “Elizabeth the Golden Age” I think I would have liked the visuals on the big screen; the cinematography and costuming is simply stunning. Too bad the storyline couldn’t keep up.

This is the sequel to “Elizabeth” (1998), and there is talk of a third. We revisit Elizabeth a full thirty years into her reign. I have read many books about Elizabeth, as I have always had a fascination with the woman; she was so powerful in a time when women were still treated as property (and I’m partial to redheads). Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of Elizabeth is spot on with everything I’ve read about the Virgin Queen. She is smart, strong and as self-assured as any man. Yet, she is still a woman, vulnerable to her emotions and her passions. Blanchett is able to convey all of these characteristics without making her character seem mentally unstable.

That is where the accolades stop. ”Elizabeth: the Golden Age” takes an unnecessary mythical approach to the telling of Elizabeth’s story. I feel the historical story is riviting enough without the fable-like additions. Wind machines work overtime and horse handlers must have had their hands full, so did the CGI team. 

Apparently, director Kapur wanted this movie to be very different from the first “Elizabeth.” Whereas the first movie was about power, he wanted this film to portray Elizabeth’s crossover into becoming immortal and divine. I suppose this is why the movie felt as though it were crossing over into a pure fantasy film, reminiscent of a novel such as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “Mist of Avalon.” But if this is Kapur’s direction, why not go full force?  Just make up an entirely mythical story of Elizabeth and run with it – instead of this somewhat recognizable story with fantastical interjections.

As a whole, the movie doesn’t work for me. The love story is forced and unexciting. Clive Owen truly disappoints as the dashing Sir Walter Raleigh. Geoffrey Rush is quite good as Elizabeth’s adviser Sir Fancis Walsingham, but Abbie Cornish gives a flat and lifeless performance as Bess, the Queen’s favorite lady in waiting.

In conclusion, the first “Elizabeth” is a much better movie and I am not looking forward to the third installment, and if the ten years between the first and second movie is any indicator, it won’t hit theaters until 2020.