The Last Duel: Another medieval Ridley Scott effort. Better than
Robin Hood, inferior to
Kingdom of Heaven.
At 2.5 hours it's a bit long and slow in some areas, but well filmed. Ridley Scott seems to think western Europe was in a perpetual state of dreary winter, as once again the sun never shines on France in this movie. The plot sticks fairly close to the actual sequence of events, which we know due to this incident being extensively documented. Of course, there are changes to the characters and morals to reflect the
#metoo era but in fairness, if these people were accurately depicted with total authenticity we'd find them pretty unrelatable. Scott uses a
Rashomon style of pacing that presents the movie in three chapters, each from one of the three main characters point of view. I can't decide if this helps or hinders the movie, which is already a bit of a slow burn. It's not a drudge, it just takes its time.
The judicial combat is pretty well done by Hollywood standards and provides a decent payoff for the slow burn pacing that gets it there. The armor doesn't fit right and there are bits and bobs from a century down the road in evidence, that's a bit jarring to senses educated in such things. There also isn't a single hound skull or pig snout visor in evidence, which was pretty much the standard for late 14th Century armor. The half-visor things Damon and Driver wear are the worst offenders and simply ridiculous. The swords also feature blades that are a century outdated for the period. On the positive side, none of it looks cheap or shoddy and works well enough. It is nice to see armor actually working, as both combatants take some pretty serious hits that are turned by their armor, just as it would have in the period. It's also nice to see rondel daggers being used in the appropriately nasty fashion. Ever since
Saving Private Ryan Hollywood has embraced the shakey cam for any kind of combat scene and it's in evidence here. This is done entirely out of laziness, but fortunately it's kept to a minimum here. Damons Cyrus Virus mullet and Afflecks Justin Timberlake style bleached hair are highly questionable choices by the wardrobe department, but not at an egregious level of WTF?
Overall I give it a 7.5 out of 10. If it weren't for those stupid visors it would probably be a solid 8. Given the run time and pacing, I think this one would be more enjoyable in a home viewing and I put it squarely in between
Kingdom of Heaven and
Robin hood in Scotts medieval epics. Remember, with these period pieces Scott is going for the look and feel of the old epics from the 50's starring the likes of Charelton Hesston and Robert Taylor, he's not going for accuracy on the level of
Band of Brothers. He's stated this very clearly on more than one occasion, so like the others, this film should be viewed with that expectation.
It's not great, but it's not bad at all.
Originally Posted by Duelist
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