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Critics Consensus: The heavy-handed narrative collapses under its own weight.
Critic Consensus: The heavy-handed narrative collapses under its own weight.
All Critics (73) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (22) | Rotten (51) | DVD (4)
Milla Jovovich, who plays Joan, is a young woman who has been unmemorable in several pictures.
It's hard to recommend it to people who like action and blood because of all the talking; and, because of all the blood, it's hard to recommend it to those who might be interested in the talk.
The English are uniformly and broadly portrayed as villainous louts, and today's four-letter oaths sound laughably anachronistic.
What an unholy mess.
Half-baked.
Nothing less than a miracle saved France, The Messenger tells us, and nothing less than a miracle would be needed to rescue this film from itself.
Jovovich brings an intensity to the role well-matched to Besson's stylistic energy, though this comic-bookish take on Jeanne D'Arc won't be winning any historical-society awards. [Blu-ray]
Impressive to look at, but in the end, it just doesn't ring true.
Makes precious little sense.
This unusual French interpretation of Joan of Arc sees her as a radical zealot like John Brown.
Girlfriend was a few fries short of a happy meal.
I know less about Joan of Arc now than I did going into the film.
Luc Besson's The Messenger is a fairly underrated dramatic action film about Joan of Arc. Although not perfect, I found this one to be much better than what most critics have said about it. The film packs action and those scenes are very well done, but in terms of effective storytelling, I felt that the performances were decent, but what really stood out were the battle scenes. In terms of story, this does a good job at telling Joan of Arc's story, but it is not accurate either. The film has the potential of sparking interest in the subject. Milla Jovovich does what she can and she gives a fairly good performance here, but the film overall will never stand out in terms of an epic. In retrospect, there are far better films than this, but The Messenger is still mindless popcorn fair that is fun from start to finish. Of course there are things that seem out of place, but overall, it's definitely not as bad as what I'd think it would be. There are things that could have been improved upon considering its subject, but in the end, it's a fairly accomplished movie that manages to be quite good despite its flaws. If you're going into this film expecting something historically accurate, then you'll be disappointed. Director Luc Besson obviously takes creative liberties with Joan of Arc's story. Go into this one expecting a mindless action drama with an interesting plot, but it is never anything great either. I enjoyed it, but felt it should have been much better. The story had the potential of being truly memorable, and with that being said, The Messenger is good, but the definitive Joan of Arc film has yet to be made.
Super Reviewer
When Joan walks into the royal court for the first time to plead her cause, to free France of English poachers, they are already whispering about the peasant girl some claim as a saint. Except for not seeing how she came to be whispered about I really enjoyed Besson's tale (pro-French and anti-Catholic) that underlines how any act of faith is ultimately a dance with self doubt. It may is may not be of importance that Besson and Jovovich were divorcing as this filmed, so you decide.
Luc Besson's mad tale is more of a visual experience than a story.
I think they did a pretty good job of telling the true story. Milla did a great job and the cast was phenominal.
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