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Just saw it earlier today - gotta agree with BW on this one

Posted by Chris from Lafayette on August 22, 2016 at 21:51:22:
I saw it in an IMAX 3D theater in Fairfield.

Aside from the music (which was a big letdown compared to Rozsa's score for the Heston version - see my comments over on the Music forum), I was surprised at how good this new version was. (Of course, I'd seen the various rotten critical notices, so perhaps I wasn't expecting that much!) One thing this new version has going for it is that it omits the bloat of the Heston version (it's over in two hours, rather than three). And yet, the writing still seems better, the motivations of the characters seem more believable, the characters themselves are more fleshed out, and everything just seems to proceed more naturally, without being forced. Particularly in terms of motivation, this new version scores over the older one, which relied on the main characters being simple and hot-headed. This new one exposes the mental anguish of Messala as he turns against his childhood friend in what for me was a much more credible manner. The director, Timur Bekmambetov, has stated that his version is more a re-interpretation than it is a re-make, and I agree with this assessment. (BTW, I also liked Bekmambetov's "Night Watch" from a few years ago, with its "vortex of damnation" over some woman's head - LOL!)

I also agree with BW that the CGI effects are mostly excellent (aside from the snow, which never did look right). The chariot race generally follows the progress of the Heston version with a few additions - one scene where a chariot accident (and of course chariot accidents are all over the place in this story!) frees one of the horses, who then races up into the stands where the crowd is, was particularly good I thought.

Yeah, I think the critical reaction was a major bum rap for this movie. Among the reviews which were particularly bad and misleading IMHO were those by Peter Travers in Rolling Stone, Mick LaSalle in the SF Chronicle (particularly amusing in that LaSalle says the movie is too secular, while Travers says it's too full of religious preaching - LOL!), Stephen Holden of the New York Times ("Violence is its calling card" - Geez, shaddup!), and Michael O'Sullivan of the Washington Post (another one who asserts that the film is too religious, and, like a couple of other critics, seems to pine for the homoerotic undertones of the Heston version which are missing in the new version).

In all, it's amazing that these critics (and others) either misunderstand, project some view of their own that's not even there, or nitpick at some non-essential element (e.g., Richard Roeper's unhappiness that all the actors' teeth were too perfect - geez, gimme a break!). You just can't make a movie these days without most critics projecting some kind of political or social deficiency on your effort. The fact that these deficiencies aren't there to begin with doesn't seem to mater.