Kingdom of Heaven feels like a Ridley Scott film. I’m not sure how to quantify this feeling, or how to really describe it, but it felt like a one man army against the world sort of film, and Scott is an expert in creating a drama around central characters.

If I could describe Kingdom of Heaven, it would be as a cross between Gladiator and Lord of the Rings. On the one hand you have the central story of an individual who lives as one person, but grows and develops through his experiences becoming someone else at the end. On the other hand you have some epic battles that are not only reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, but at times disturbingly similar in execution. Let’s not forget the biggest similarity, the constant presence of Orlando Bloom.

So what’s the film about? The Crusades, if you didn’t know already. An attempt by Christians to rid the world of other religions, and to place Christianity as the dominant one. That’s one way to describe it, and it’s certainly the way it comes across in the film. There’s more to the reality of the Crusades and how successful it was, but in any way, it was wrong.

A young blacksmith (Bloom) is approached by Crusaders and it is revelaed to him that one of them, a Baron (Liam Neeson), is his father who had a relationship with his mother, obviously. The son was born out of wedlock, and it just so happens that on the same day his wife is being buried, after she committed suicide because of the death of their son. There is little left in the village for him in the village, and so he follows his father to Jerusalem to find forgiveness for his wife and himself.

In Jerusalem, there has been a pact between the leader of the Saracens and the King of the knights. The non-fighting agreement is the only thing that stops Muslims and Christians slaughtering each other, yet there are those in lower ranks that despise this sort of agreement and wish to annihilate the enemy.

There’s a lot of war mongering, sulking and constant back stabbing and betrayal within the ranks, which feels almost Roman like in its appearence, and eventually the two factions are at each other hammer and tong.

I thought the film wasn’t a bad feature, but it wasn’t particularly interesting. 90% of the film seemed to revolve around some sort of violence, and after the hundredth slaughter I soon grew tired of the repetition. Bloom is hardly inspiring in his role, with much of the cast feeling rather pedestrian and unengaging.

Yet again, in true Hollywood fashion, the lead has to have a love story revolving around war, and yet again the lead is forced to decide between his wants, and the needs of his people. It’s horribly predictable, though you do hope that the film will surprise even as we venture towards the “ride into the dusk” ending. It doesn’t and you feel cheated.

Scott’s direction seems to have taken a turn for the worst since Gladiator, where he’s pandered to films with soppy endings and hollow characters that go nowhere. Where’s the invention, the imagination and originality that he was known for? It’s certainly not here, in Kingdom of Heaven. Scott isn’t the only one disappointing, the Coen brothers were once known for being daring, but have chosen to make mediocrity of late.

Does a film need a point? Does a film need to have a reason? If you sat in a cinema watching a film that was all action and little in the way of story, would you be happy? If you’re one of the masses, then certainly, the answer is yes. It’s simply another predictable turn of events, with more boredom than a year of detention with the Deputy Headteacher.

I simply didn’t understand what the film was about, or may be I did, but was disappointed with what it was about. I wanted to have a good time being entertained, and yet I feel empty and lost having watched Kingdom of Heaven. It offers nothing new, or of interest to distinguish itself from so many films with epic battle scenes.

Verdict: A tiring and pointless watch with little reward for seeing it through to the end