Review of Alexander (1996) by June S — 09 Jul 2011

[60/C] This sprawling, rambling epic is a hodgepodge of rich cinematic textures, some terrific battle turmoil, soapy megalomaniacal burlesque, and clunky narrative that frequently tries to eat its own tail. Stone pulls out all the stops, and there are some fine moments, particularly the battle recreations (the hauntingly oneiric Battle of the Hydaspes, near the end of the film, with its war elephants amid a gloriously fantastical and weird pink jungle, stands out), but the attempt to capture and cram (and humanize) Alexander's great complex history into a melodramatic framework transmogrifies the subject into a king of disenchanting disarray.

In spite of all the mess and the mawkishness, there's still plenty of splendor here, and delights for the eye. Colin Farrell does a respectable job with a difficult, unfathomable role. Ancient epics, with a few significant exceptions, have been notoriously iffy cinematic ambitions, and this Alexander fares better than most of the bloated lot, even if it falls prey to much of the genre's weaknesses. Overblown and sometimes silly, but very watchable.