60
A frustratingly thin epic. You're left wanting more exposition, more character development, the tidying up of loose ends.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
60
The New Yorker by Anthony Lane
One imagined that a movie about the Crusades would be gallant and mad; one feared that it might stoke some antiquated prejudice. But who could have dreamed that it would produce this rambling, hollow show about a boy?
70
So, if you want to see this loud but rather ordinary epic, don't expect its tricked-up cultural and theological messages to carry much water. For entertainment value, it's hard to beat the climactic siege of Jerusalem, a Ridley Scott-perfect half-hour that matches anything in "Troy" or "Gladiator" for sheer, bloody, helmet-bashing mayhem.
75
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Kingdom of Heaven may have problems, but it delivers.
80
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
Fulfills the requirements of grand-scale moviemaking while serving as a timely reminder that in the conflict between Christianity and Islam it was the Christians who picked the first fight.
60
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
The movie does what any self-respecting politician would do: sidestep the issues, soft-pedal mortal costs, talk a fat game, and divert your attention away from history with exercises in spectacle and power.
67
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
Scott, working from a script by William Monahan, is so busy balancing our sympathies, making sure no one gets offended, that he has made a pageant of war that would have gotten a thumbs-up from Eleanor Roosevelt.
75
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
Odd as it is to say, Kingdom of Heaven loses its momentum the more Balian gets religion.
70
The battle skirmishes here mix sudden violence with slow-motion artistry. The attractive cast can sell an obsession or articulate a conundrum with equal fervor.
80
Genuinely spectacular and historically quite respectable, Ridley Scott's latest epic is at its strongest in conveying the savagery spawned by fanaticism.