Wick's Review

Summary - Perfect 5.0

Elizabeth is a smashingly good movie – presented with great aplomb – about worldshaping events, centered on arguably the greatest queen of all time. All that and the great Cate Blanchett’s first ever motion picture role – for which she was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar.

Politically trenchant, the movie shows the savagery heaped upon Protestants by Catholics and on Catholics by Protestants during Christianity’s 16th century.

The Reality commentary below compares Islam at the same age as Elizabeth’s Christianity. Sobering.

This magnificent film leapt to mind as its sequel (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) is to appear on the big screen.

Acting - Perfect 5.0

The current Queen of England has no better acting troupe than this: Not just the great Blanchett, but the dashing young Joseph Fiennes, the wizened Geoffrey Rush and the grizzled John Gielgud, in his final role.

Film - Great 4.0

Shekhar Kapur’s magnificent direction, Michael Hirst’s great script, sumptuous costumes, this movie has everything one looks for in a perfect period piece.

Edge - Risqué 1.8

Reality - Glib 1.4

If my math is right, 2007 is the 15th century since the Islamic Prophet. Thus, at roughly the same age, the two main sects of each Christianity and Islam routinely engaged in violent subjugation of their rival sect, Catholic-Protestant then, Sunni-Shia now.

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