Ben-Hur

Ben-Hur

Starring Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Morgan Freeman, Rodrigo Santoro

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov

The Story:
Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) and his adopted Roman brother Messala (Toby Kebbell) are best friends, always together and racing together.  The two are hope that the Jews and Romans can live side-by-side in harmony, but it's anything but harmonious for Messala, who longs for adventure and getting out of his grandfather's reputation.  He decides to enlist in the Roman army and leaves to fight for the Romans for three years, during which Judah falls in love with and marries Esther (Nazanin Boniadi). 

After coming back, Messala is now a high-ranking officer in the Roman army, charged with protecting Pontius Pilate (Pilou Asbaek) as he travels through their town.  Judah, meanwhile, has harbored a zealot who is set on bringing the Romans down, but is a pacifist and doesn't tell Messala about the man, and urges both the man and Messala on separate occasions to pursue peace instead of war, something carpenter Jesus (Rodrigo Santoro) also preaches.

When Pilate arrives, things go terribly wrong and Judah is charged with treason, betrayed by Messala, and sent into slavery.  He spends five years rowing on a slave ship before escaping and coming into contact with Sheik Ildreim (Morgan Freeman), a wealthy Nubian sheik who helps Judah train in chariot racing to go against his brother for revenge. 

As the day of the chariot race arrives, Esther pleads with Judah to forgive Messala, as she started following Jesus more actively since Judah was sent away, but Judah's heart is filled with vengeance and the men go at it in the Colosseum, where likely only one would come out alive.

The Synopsis:
"Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ" was a novel written by Lew Wallace back in 1880, and has produced six film adaptations, in 1907, 1925, an animated direct-to-DVD in 2003, a television miniseries in 2010, this film, and the most well-known adaptation in 1959 starring Charlton Heston, which earned a record-setting eleven Oscar wins that has still not been beaten to this day (although "Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" have tied it).  Everyone knows about the 1959 epic - running at a whopping three hours and forty four minutes - and anyone who dared try to make a remake of that classic was met with disdain and doubt.

However, this didn't stop Timur Bekmambetov from doing just that.  Known for his terrible film "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" (yet also directing amazing Russian films "Night Watch" and "Day Watch"), Timur ignored all prior advice to leave the classic alone, but he went along with his plan and the result was, as expected, an unmitigated mess.  Currently it's the biggest box office flop of the summer, and unfair comparisons I feel are most to blame.  I tend to try to separate the remake from the original and view the film as a wholly new entity, and in that respect it wasn't as bad as people made it out to be.

Jack Huston and Toby Kebbell aren't household names (Huston is best known for his work on the "Boardwalk Empire" series, and Kebbell for his voice work in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" and "Warcraft" as well as his...performance...as Dr. Doom in the most recent "Fantastic Four" mess), which is both a good and bad thing for this type of blockbuster.  Good in the sense that you're not associating the actors you see on screen as the actor playing the role (like "oh, that's Brad Pitt playing Ben-Hur"), but bad because there's no real name recognition to bring butts to the seats (sans Morgan Freeman, who as always delivers impeccable work.  Seriously, the man could star in a movie about turds and still shine like a gem).  The two have great chemistry on screen and you feel the brotherly love at the start, so the betrayal comes even more hot and heavy in the middle.  They both performed admirably and really drew you into the story, along with supporting cast members Freeman and Santoro, who fits the generic image of Jesus to a T.

Storywise, it's a theme as old as time itself: revenge.  From "The Count of Monte Cristo" to even "Thor," there's been a vengeance story where one person feels inferior to the other, and sets out to destroy that person.  In "Monte Cristo," Mondego is jealous of his friend Dantes' life and wife, and sets out to destroy him, and Dantes returns to extract revenge.  In "Thor," we have the God of Thunder and his adopted brother (sounds strikingly similar to "Ben-Hur"), and the adopted brother Loki is jealous of Thor and sets out to destroy him.  Here, the logic is less clear to why Messala betrays Judah, the only real reason given is that if he didn't, then Messala would be seen as weak in the eyes of his fellow Romans.  Still, that theme is prevalent here and Judah returns to get his revenge, going against his wife's wishes. 

The film not only deals with the issues of revenge, but also forgiveness as well, through the character of Jesus.  Here, Jesus serves as the voice of peace and calm, and gives out sound advice to anyone willing to hear, even offering Ben-Hur a drink of water saying "you'd do the same for me," which served as a brilliant foreshadowing.  The crucifixion scene here was extremely powerful, and the best since "The Passion of the Christ," showing the true power of forgiveness and how it trumps revenge.

"Ben-Hur" also raises an important question regarding power.  Messala enlists Judah to find out information on any insurrections against Pilate, but Judah won't give him names.  When Pilate is almost assassinated, Judah won't reveal who did it, even at the cost of his own freedom.  Some people see that as a sign of weakness, but others would say it's ultimate strength.  Some say it would've been easier on Judah if he had just given over the man instead of protecting him, but others would say it was stronger of Judah to not turn him over.  Ultimately, I feel it was stronger to not turn over the man and face his own punishment than just giving him up and living life normally.    

The film was brilliantly shot with breathtaking views, the only exception being the costumes which, like I had an issue with in "Risen," looks like they were costumes left over from a church Easter play.  Timur doesn't use a lot of CGI, which is refreshing for a film nowadays.  The action sequence involving Judah as a prisoner was action-packed and exciting, and the chariot race was the defining moment of the entire movie.  That scene in particular didn't have CGI - it was a real chariot race which made it all the more exciting and thrilling, although I did feel bad for the horses. 

The Summary:
When you see the film for what it is and don't associate it with the far superior 1959 classic, "Ben-Hur" has some amazing action sequences, compelling acting and a decent story.

The Score: B