I often misjudge movies by the title. This time, I thought the story was about angels and demons fighting in the underworld. Wrong. The kingdom of heaven was the name given to the now defunct Kingdom of Jerusalem, the holiest of holy countries and host of everything valuable to the devout. This extinct country was the Christian stepping stone into the middle east. Whenever Islam crept too close, european crusaders would come from all over Europe in defense of the holy kingdom.
I once played a campaign in Age of Empires where you play as Saladin, the Jihad king. The story in that game is narrated by a captured Christian knight that joins the Islamic army and writes letters about Saladin's quest to drive white people out of the holy land. The plot of this movie is very very similar to that. And what a coincidence, because that's exactly what I wanted to see. I love stories about religious armies. And bombards.
Viewers of Kingdom of Heaven will be constantly reminded the glaring parallels to Return of the King. You could say that this is a gritty Middle Eastern version of LotR where instead of being a shitty elf, Orlando Bloom gets promoted to Ghandalf status. The shots often pan wide to show you epic military formations on a massive scale, great spiring cities that resemble Minas Tirith, and breathtaking Mediterranean landscapes like those in Assassins Creed.
Rating: 100%
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