Director:Â Timur Bekmambetov
Cast:  Jack Huston,  Nazanin Boniadi,  Ayelet Zurer,  Sofia Black-D’Elia,  Haluk Bilginer,  Pilou Asbæk
Rating: 12A
Running Time: 123 mins
Release Date:Â 07/09/2016
Some films just need to be left alone.
GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) , CASABLANCA (1942) , 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) and STAR WARS (1977) are five such examples that need to be protected from other film-makers. Gus Van Sant tried a shot-for-shot colour remake of PSYCHO and failed immeasurably.
Another example that needed to be protected is definitely William Wyler‘s BEN-HUR.
It remains one of the all-time classic epics. Made at the end of the 1950s, the film won a record 11 Academy Awards, only equalled in 1997 by James Cameron’s TITANIC and continues to be admirable because of the very real stunts, sets and so forth.
There have been many reboots of classic films recently and each has been assessed on its own merits. Most recently, the female reboot of GHOSTBUSTERS, whilst getting some positive praise, has been attacked unfairly over the original 1984 version, which was released at a time when computers and technology were still comparatively the stuff of science-fiction and big rooms in secret locations. It isn’t as bad as what people have been making out (I certainly laughed more in the first 15 minutes than I did when I saw the original version on December 1st, 1984) and has its moments, but the audience does decide what is good for them ultimately at the box-office.
Whilst this new version of BEN-HUR remains true to the material, it suffers from a compromise in running time that is just over half the length of the 1959 release (which clocked in at 212 minutes compared to the 2016 film’s 123 minutes (this version also includes a lengthy end credit roll). Although there may be some younger viewers who have never seen the Charlton Heston version who will enjoy some of the action sequences on show (which are impeccable in terms of the visual FX and overall GLADIATOR-style canvas which this version will be compared to), it might be an idea for MGM to go the whole hog and re-issue the Heston version in a brand-new 4K restoration in limited release on the big-screen so that people old and new can enjoy what is effectively still the best loved and most praised version. It worked previously in 1989 with the restored LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.
Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a Jewish nobleman and his adopted Roman half-brother Messala (Toby Kebbell) have a strong bond of friendship during their formative years in Jerusalem. Messala doesn’t feel a part of the family and later on enlists in the Roman army, returning years later as a decorated officer and informs Ben-Hur that Pontius Pilate (Pilou Asbaek) will be taking residence in Jerusalem, warning that no conflict must occur during his time. However, a young Zealot youth called Gestas (Moises Arias), whom Judah sheltered during a rising insurrection by the Zealots, fails in an attempt to assassinate Pilate, but Judah covers and admits to the assassination, whereby he is arrested and placed upon a slave ship to drive the oars……
Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, who helmed the hugely successful NIGHT WATCH and DAY WATCH films, does a competent job, although he is in a no-win situation with this movie. Morgan Freeman also graces the film with his presence, though you do sometimes wonder whether this was a deliberate attempt by the studio to bring in a senior figure of reference. Freeman is a well-liked and well-established actor with many great performances over the years, but he strangely feels out of place here and is so like his Moorish sidekick in ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES (one half expected him to say to Ben Hur at one point ‘No man determines my destiny, particularly one who attacks down wind smelling of garlic’, a funny line from the 1991 blockbuster).
BEN HUR’S underperformance at the box-office so far is clear to all at present and perhaps does signal that maybe this type of historical epic has had its day for the time being. Sixteen years have passed since GLADIATOR re-invented the genre to great and deserved critical acclaim and in Hollywood terms that is a considerable time for a genre to be wrung out. Steven Spielberg admitted recently that the Marvel era of blockbusters may be on the wane, but provided they continue to add something fresh to the mix, there is no reason why a film of any genre can thrive. It happened before with the Western genre with DANCES WITH WOLVES (199), which revitalised the genre after the failure of HEAVEN’S GATE in 1980 effectively bankrupted United Artists and consigned it to a place in history.
Another big problem the film has is that the Jesus plotline, which is an essential part of the BEN-HUR story, has been covered considerably in various other recent films, with the likes of THE NATIVITY STORY, PASSION OF THE CHRIST and RISEN all getting a release in the last decade or so. They have been welcome in cinemas across the world and religious groups have used them as a good point of reference.
That’s not to say that the Roman epic, personified in BEN-HUR, will not make a comeback and such films like a reboot of these sorts of film will find their audience again in the future. Any talented film-maker can find a way to create a fresh perspective and ideal with a properly told story and the technological advances in effects can render any cinematic landscape possible from the page to the camera.
I do not want to criticise anyone who made this film, merely that it would have better to have kept BEN-HUR in it’s glorious 1959 version and not even contemplated rebooting it for the 21st Century. The Heston film did that perfectly to critical and box-office acclaim.
VerdictÂ
