After having seen the disappointing Troy, I had low expectations of Kingdom of Heaven and was hoping that sitting through this nearly two and half hour epic would at least be bearable. Also, I was hoping for a stronger “manlier” performance by Orlando Bloom. It is basically a story of a religious war (namely the Crusades) and no doubt about it the blood and gore is sickening. Having said that, the story is fair and paints the two sides (Christians and Muslims) evenly with good and bad men on both sides.

The first half hour of the film was, to me, confusing and seemed to drag along. Orlando plays a young blacksmith who is approached by his long lost father, a lord played by Liam Neeson, to help him in his quest to protect King (an unrecognizable Edward Norton) and in doing so protect Jerusalem. Bloom is a Cinderalla of sorts going from an average blacksmith to a knight to nearly King of Jerusalem. Somehow along the way he becomes an amazing fighter and master tactician. It is a little unbelievable but in those times such hurdles apparently can be overcome with honourable action and friends in high places.

Overall, the movie was enjoyable enough (though not always believable) and Orlando, though not giving the most original of performances, gave his broody strong silent side a bit of a workout.