Review of The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) by Aidan H — 26 Jul 2010
A game of two halves, Luc Besson's ambitious and visceral biopic scorches the senses with epic and visionary battle sequences laced with religious symbolism but falls flat once the blood-letting has finished and the action moves to Joan's trial and imprisonment by the English king.
Despite a lack of thespian polish, the ex-Ms. Besson is electric as the God-bothered saint-to-be, buckling swashes with the best of them in several amazing battle scenes and holding her own against such cinematic stalwarts as Hoffman and Timothy West.
However, it's down to Besson that the film wastes its initial promise, proving once again that the director is better with action than dramatic scenes. On the technical side, special mention must go to the cinematographer Thierry Arbogast and the award-winning designs by costumer, Catherine Leterrier, for some outstanding medieval threads.
Despite outstaying its welcome by over half an hour, TM:TSoJoA is still a cracking film and its a shame Jovovich failed to make it into the big time and resorted to dreck like the Resident Evil franchise.
Underrated and laudable, J of A deserves to be re-evaluated.
This review of The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) was written by Aidan H on 26 Jul 2010.
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc has generally received positive reviews.
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