...Ridley Scott, who at 85 continues to bring out his best not only with the fine detailing of the narrative showing the rise and downfall of the emperor but also bringing in the complexities of the characters with panache and finesse.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 23, 2024

It’s a masterful film in terms of spectacle.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 11, 2024

A paint-by-numbers biopic that seems woefully indecisive in its opinion of the man whose story it’s portraying.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 19, 2024

I’m invigorated and inspired by the fact that a movie like Napoleon can exist in the modern era ... the blend of war epic and farcical romance, acted and directed masterfully, is the kind of full spectacle that we go to the movies for.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 13, 2024

I mean, the movie was perplexing at points, but this reads like someone having an out-of-body experience...

| Jul 12, 2024

Each act contains a spectacle-filled battle scene, beautifully choreographed, lit, and shot. Scott (“Gladiator”) knows what he’s doing with action scenes. No complaints here. The rest of the narrative trips him up, however.

| Original Score: C+ | Jul 4, 2024

Napoleon is the confluence of two centuries of documentation and innuendo, and how, maybe, a tyrant who led millions to their death doesn’t deserve better than to be portrayed as a weird little guy horny for his mean wife.

| May 29, 2024

Scott’s depiction of Napoleonic warfare is equal parts beautiful and brutal.

| May 21, 2024

“Napoleon” is a gorgeous movie, but you won’t see it when you fall asleep between battles. The combination of pitch perfect visuals with comedic, outlandish dialogue does not ever gel, and Scott lacks the necessary pacing to let everyone enjoy the joke.

| Apr 12, 2024

A battle-laden pilgrimage through the historical highlights of France's most prolific Emperor cuts considerable corners in conveying his military machinations. Questionable casting, jarring tonal shifts and a repetitive dependence on the battlefield...

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 12, 2024

On its way to theatrical release, 'Napoleon' has lost an hour and a half of footage, affecting a dramatic progression that feels too disjointed, cold, and at times, lacking in soul.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Mar 11, 2024

This lavish production never feels like an incredible story, nor does it ever feel particularly intimate. Truthfully, Napoleon rarely feels like anything; perfunctory emotions that are adequately portrayed by talented actors adrift in a sea of tedium.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 6, 2024

This two and a half hour-plus battle-heavy film shies away from nothing and really does give you kind of what you expect- epic action in a way that we know and love Ridley Scott for and a bonkers performance that we know and love Joaquin Phoenix for.

| Original Score: 7.5/10 | Feb 12, 2024

Although I was never bored, this two-and-a-half-hour film made me feel like I was sitting through a three-and-a-half-hour film.

| Feb 5, 2024

Napoleon is a shallow collection of impressions, “psychological” insight of the dime-store variety and brief battle scenes, which are not even presented so as to explain Napoleon’s military prowess.

| Feb 2, 2024

Who was it that said history was just one damn thing after another? This is what Sir Ridley Scott's epic [...] feels like when not focused on the electrifying performance of Joaquin Phoenix.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 21, 2024

Ridley Scott's "Napoleon" is more of a romantic epic than an exploration of the personality of a despot. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Original Score: B- | Jan 18, 2024

Tonally, it’s flat and unengaging, leaving us uncertain whether we should be taking it seriously or reading Phoenix’s simpering interpretation of Napoleon as satire.

| Jan 10, 2024

Scott makes no apologies for Napoleon and never treats him as some hero for France. Napoleon succeeds at presenting the insecurities of this man’s life for audiences who may be unaware of French history. I just wish it was narrower in its scope.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 4, 2024

Joaquin Phoenix’s blustering performance conquers as Napoleon.

| Original Score: B | Jan 1, 2024