‘Napoleon’ review: swords, sex and musket fire in an unmissable historical epic

An actor as singular as Joaquin Phoenix. A director as fearlessly energetic as Ridley Scott. They’ve not worked together since Roman Empire epic Gladiator at the very start of the 21st century but finally, some 23 years later, they reunite for another period drama spectacular. This time they present the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, a soldier born in Corsica who rose to become the Emperor Of France from 1804 to 1814.

Scott begins Napoleon as he means to go on with a lavish scene full of life and noise depicting the execution of Marie Antoinette in 1793, four years after the French Revolution began. Such a vivid and dramatic start sets the tone of a film that is never less than full-blooded, though riven with historical inaccuracies – we know that Napoleon was in Paris at the time but have no evidence he saw the guillotine come down, as he does here. Later, when the now-General Napoleon leads the French into Egypt, his troops fire cannons at the Pyramids. This might not have happened but it looks fabulous on screen, a fun cinematic shorthand to show how the French army took control of this part of North Africa.

The carnage of war and booming cannons are only one part of the general’s lifetime of conquest. His other great mission was his wife Josephine (Vanessa Kirby, on a break from the Mission: Impossible franchise but clearly relishing such a lively role). Napoleon and Josephine have a fiery, sensual relationship comprising an angry and – at times – difficult love, with affairs and despair marking their years together and apart. As with his efforts on the battlefield, Napoleon couldn’t win every row with Josephine.

Lovers of the currently unfashionable historical epic, however, mostly aren’t eager to see Napoleon for the love story at its core. What they want is a battle – blood and thunder writ large. On this front, there’s little in modern cinema to equal what Scott and his team manage. There are six huge battle scenes across the 157-minute run time, with Napoleon’s victory at the Battle Of Austerlitz (now part of the Czech Republic, then the Austrian Empire) in 1805 perhaps the most exciting, as the French outsmart Russian and Austrian men and horses as they clamber across the ice. This decisive victory is a moment of justifiable pride and Phoenix wears it well. He may have won his best actor Oscar for Joker but this grand, imperious performance is as impressive in many ways (and funnier), even if viewers may argue who is the more sympathetic character.

Of course, all good things come to an end and Napoleon eventually suffered his last, final defeat at Waterloo at the hands of the Duke of Wellington (here essayed by a deliciously hammy Rupert Everett) before his final exile on the desolate island of Saint Helena. Scott has teased a four-hour version of Napoleon that will eventually be available to stream on Apple TV+ and, on the basis of the terrific entertainment he’s already served up, it’ll be a doozy. In the meantime, the details of historical truth be damned: this mighty adventure should be seen on the biggest screen possible. Charge on horseback to the multiplex to savour it.