an overblown costumer drama that is desperately clutching at the Oscar statuett
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10/12/07
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Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
34
%
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Reviews Counted:162
Fresh:55
Rotten:107
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: This sequel is full of lavish costumes and elaborate sets, but lacks the heart and creativity of the original Elizabeth
Theatrical Release:Oct 12, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $16,264,475
Synopsis: Reprising the roles they originated in seven-time Academy AwardŽ-nominated Elizabeth, Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush return for a gripping historical thriller laced with treachery and... [More]
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Rhys Ifans
Director: Shekhar Kapur
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Reviews for Elizabeth: The Golden Age
It will most likely be admired by those who actually already reached their OWN 'golden age'.
10/12/07
Despite its title, Shekhar Kapur's new film resembles tarnished copper.
10/12/07
Bogus history can make a crackling good adventure yarn, and Kapur piles on the treachery and romance.
10/12/07
From its extravagant costumes to its pompous score, The Golden Age is packed with distractions. But the biggest of all is the story itself, which works so mightily to tarnish the queen at its core.
10/12/07
Expect a fast-paced, beautifully mounted and well-acted soap opera with overripe dialogue that plays fast and loose with history -- just like they did in the '30s, '40s and '50s -- and you won't come away disappointed.
10/12/07
Top CriticEven the chance to see Cate Blanchett strut and fret upon the stage, shooting haughty glances left and right, isn't enough reason to tour this rambling Tudor mansion, full of overstuffed bedrooms and empty suits of armor.
10/12/07
Top CriticThe events beg for Shakespearean gravity, but the only tragedy here is that so little could be made of so much.
10/12/07
The sets and costumes are elaborate Oscar bait, though the excess of candles sometimes makes things resemble an old Police video.
10/12/07
For a narrative that's positively overflowing with dramatic intrigue, Elizabeth: The Golden Age is only fitfully compelling.
10/12/07
The danger in making a costume drama is that all of it will be as lifeless as wax figures. Kapur escapes this fate by relying on sex and a luminous star capable of being at once regal and alluring.
10/12/07
Top CriticEvery time the camera finally settles on Blanchett's regal cheekbones, it's a relief.
10/12/07
Top CriticWhat compelled Kapur to film half the movie through scrims, curtains, screens and arches? How can you appreciate human drama when you're constantly being distracted by the 16th-century equivalent of Architectural Digest?
10/12/07
The only thing connecting one Golden Age scene to the next is a choir of sopranos so insistent and shrill that you'll wish Elizabeth would behead them instead.
10/12/07
Elizabeth: The Golden Age places its gilded head upon the chopping block right from the opening salvo, replacing its predecessor's cunning with bombast.
10/12/07
Top CriticHistory gets short shrift from screenwriters William Nicholson and Michael Hirst -- starting with the not insignificant fact that in 1585 Elizabeth was 52 years old -- but Kapur is clearly more interested in spectacle and soap opera than dusty old facts.
10/12/07
The movie looks beautiful, enhanced by intriguing camerawork and sumptuous production design. But the music is overbearing, perhaps to compensate for the pedestrian script and dull history lesson.
10/12/07
When you see Cate Blanchett in one fantastical gown after another, you understand why Elizabeth's reign was golden.
10/12/07
Top CriticElizabeth's appeal is that she was womanly and feminine while deftly executing matters of state in a time when men ruled most of the world.
10/12/07
Elizabeth: The Golden Age is a Rolls-Royce, car-crash of a movie -- classy, beautifully made and ultimately crushed beneath its own pretentiousness.
10/12/07
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