"Alexander" by Boo Allen (2/5)
Rated R, 173 minutes

The brash new blockbuster "Alexander" begins with a quotation from Virgil’s "Aenid": "Fortune favors the bold." Obviously, this was meant to refer to the title character, the legendary Macedonian warrior who conquered the known world before he turned 30. But it could also be applied to the film’s writer/director Oliver Stone, or, for that matter, anyone ambitious enough to tackle this massive movie project.
Clocking in at nearly three hours and costing enough to cover the national debt of Fredonia, "Alexander" is truly a massive film. But it’s also bloated, redundant, too long, and, at times, boring.
Which is the last thing expected from an Oliver Stone movie. This one, however, simply seems like this week’s "Gladiator" or "Troy." Devoid of individual spark, it could have been done by any of a dozen other Hollywood hired hands. "Alexander" cries for Stone’s personal outrageousness, the arrogance and the preening that usually make his films so fascinating.
Instead, director Stone delivers a few big set pieces in the form of two extended battle scenes, but too much of the remainder focuses on inane court intrigue and is riddled with pompous declarations of inflated self-worth.
"Alexander" seems over-aware of itself and its lofty subject matter, not just with the title person but with the royal politics that play out with people talking stiffly, sprouting aphorisms or exclaiming to the gods. Outside of the small, main group of characters, everyone looks the same, wears similar costumes, and has confusing names like "Hephaistion" (Jared Leto) or "Antigonus" (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers).
Raised in conflict by his father, Philip (Val Kilmer), but loved by his suffocating mother (Angelina Jolie, in a strange bit of casting), the precocious Alex takes over the kingdom and its army at his father’s death (all told in a jumbled chronology). Alex’s early life follows movie tradition with scenes of wrestling other boys and taming the requisite wild steed.
After about an hour, the first big battle sequence finally arrives, the legendary facing of the Persians at Gaugamela, now part of present day Iraq. Defeating a larger army, the cocky young Macedonian then looks for other lands to conquer and spends two more screen hours in pursuit of them.
The actual, sketchy details of Alex’s life lie open to Hollywood screenwriting fancy that steers him into a union with Asian queen Roxane (Rosario Dawson). Elsewhere, Alex’s bi-sexuality, which has garnered a generous amount of off-screen comment, manifests itself during his scenes with Hephaistion but is regarded here as little more than a lasting childhood crush and is never dragged in for psychological comment or analysis. Various plots and sub-plots also play out before the destructive battle in the Hindu Kush.
The first battle scene falls prey to the usual cinematic difficulty of rendering hand-to-hand combat while still knowing which side is which. But the final battle scenes shows glimpses of vintage Oliver Stone. The skirmish also provides director of cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto his sole opportunity to display his dazzling command of the camera.
When Alex’s army faces off against an unknown enemy that rides into battle on strange creatures called elephants, the action is at times ferocious and is heightened by Prieto’s grainy, washed-out canvas that brings an immediacy to the violence and cruelty of the conflict.
Stone fleetingly captures what it must have felt like to push into uncharted lands and to see things no western person had ever seen. That feeling of awe and majesty is transmitted as the fierce fighter stands high on a precipice looking out at mountain ranges and pristine rivers.
But since this is the fourth century B.C., an ample amount of C.G.I. technology is needed for the duplication of ancient buildings and towers. Although not computer generated, Jared Leto’s on-again, off-again eye make-up deserves a screen credit of its own.
Colin Farrell makes an adequate Alexander, but even he stumbles on some of the pompous dialogue he’s given to deliver. Anthony Hopkins picks up a check with his opening and closing comments as an aged warrior who once fought with Alexander. The rest of the cast just blends in without distinction, much like the rest of the film.