Review: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Set in 1585 and long-reigning Queen Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett), along with her chief counsel Lord Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) has to contend with Roman Catholic Spanish ruler King Phillip II (Jordi Molla) preparing for war against her. But there’s also Elizabeth’s imprisoned, jealous, next-in-line-to-the-throne cousin Mary, Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton), who is set to dethrone the Protestant Elizabeth, with the aid of a Catholic-backed assassination plot (supported also by Phillip). And then there’s the love triangle of the aging Elizabeth, her chief lady-in-waiting Bess (Aussie Abbie Cornish- holding her own amidst a top-drawer cast), and Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), the roguish, but handsome, swashbuckling man the somewhat insecure Queen secretly pines for, despite pushing young Bess into his arms. Eddie Redmayne plays Thomas Babington, the intended assassin, with Rhys Ifans as the conspiratorial (and fictitiously named) Catholic agent Robert Reston, whose character gets somewhat short shrift in the largely historically fanciful story.

Visually stupendous 2007 Shekhar Kapur (“Elizabeth”) continuation of the Oscar-screwed 1998 film (has Gwyneth stopped blubbering yet?) disappointed many fans of that critically-acclaimed film. But it’s a different beast, less high-minded, less original, but possibly more entertaining. It’s essentially a remake of the 1955 Bette Davis costume drama “The Virgin Queen”. As such, it’s really enjoyable stuff, with a brilliant characterisation by Blanchett, showing how the Queen has changed in the years since the events of the first film, her strengths and also her vulnerabilities as she starts to get a little long in the tooth (and never once does she overdo it, as the part occasionally can lend itself to). Owen (doing the dashing hero thing much more effectively and articulately than his football hooligan turn as “King Arthur”), Rush (stepping back into his dutiful Royal master schemer role from the original, effortlessly), and fellow Aussie Cornish (the best performance of her career IMHO) are also strong, with creepy-eyed Molla doing wonders with an underwritten role. His character seems to spend most of the film waiting around before he’s really needed for the major battle towards the end. In a minor flaw, Morton’s scenes as Catholic cousin and arch-rival Mary seem to have come in from another film (strange, given they are indeed part of the history).

Overall, if you don’t expect anything more than a costume drama, albeit a terrific one, you won’t be disappointed. It’s neither as deep as the first film nor as shallow as its detractors would have you believe. Scripted by William Nicholson (“Gladiator”, “Les Miserables”, “Everest”), and Michael Hirst (who wrote the first film), this one’s underrated by some.

Rating: B