This was the first time I've seen Elizabeth since seeing it in the theater ten years ago. I bought it back in the day because Geoffrey Rush as Walsingham is one of the coolest characters I've ever seen. I just love the idea of the guy who's willing to get himself filthy dirty to protect someone who needs to remain pure. In this case, it's his queen and country -- he's James Bond in a frilly collar -- but it doesn't have to work exactly that way and I'm thinking I'll steal the idea for something of my own.
I also bought the movie because it's kind of a sequel to Lady Jane, which -- like I said -- is one of my favorites. The reason I haven't watched my copy before now is that I got distracted with other things and never felt like I had the time for the double-feature I thought would be fun to try. The release of Elizabeth: The Golden Age gave me the excuse though, so here we are.
And I'm glad I did it. I like making historical connections like how Joseph Fiennes' character in Elizabeth is the older brother of Cary Elwes' character in Lady Jane. It was also cool to see connecting plots like Philip II's wooing Mary in Lady Jane and then attempting the same thing again with Elizabeth after Mary died.
And there are also connecting themes. Like Jane, Elizabeth really wants to be a good, moral queen and do the right thing for her subjects. Fortunately for Elizabeth, unlike Jane, she has some powerful supporters like Walsingham who are going to make sure she gets a fair shot at it.
Even cooler than all that though was realizing that the two major villains in Elizabeth were played by Doctor Who and James Bond. I didn't know who Christopher Eccleston and Daniel Craig were ten years ago, but if I had, I would've been a lot more worried for Elizabeth.
Elizabeth isn't an historically accurate film, but it is a fun one with all its intrigue and machinations. It's a pleasure watching Walsingham be three steps ahead of everyone else, especially the sinister Mary Guise up there in Scotland. Unfortunately, Elizabeth: The Golden Age doesn't have any of that going for it.
It does have Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh, which is awesome, but the story as a whole is a lot darker and disjointed, probably because that's Elizabeth's mood for most of it. Elizabeth is about the queen's becoming accepted by England's leadership as a viable monarch. In The Golden Age, she has to prove it to her people and the rest of Europe and the effort nearly drives her nuts.
She's in love with Raleigh and he seems to dig her too, but she can't have him. Even if he were a realistic suitor, she's sworn off men, claiming to be "married to England." But when Raleigh's attentions turn towards one of Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting, the queen can't handle it. She's so trapped in a situation of her own making though that I couldn't feel sorry for her. I was forced to pity her instead and I didn't like that after the clever, pleasant, honorable ruler from the first film.
Still, The Golden Age has its moments. Walsingham, though older and more frail, is still a man you don't want to screw around with (although he makes mistakes in this one that made me sad). The depiction of the Spanish Armada is also impressive and I love the scene with Elizabeth addressing her troops in full armor and long hair flowing. I just wish the whole movie could've been like that and included more Clive Owen swinging on ship's rigging.
Elizabeth gets four out of five killer priests.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age gets two out of five fire ships.
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