Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

Directed by Shekhar Kapur. Starring Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush, Samantha Morton, Susan Lynch, William Houston, Rhys Ifans, Jordi Mollà, Eddie Redmayne, David Threlfall. [PG-13]

Blanchett returns to the role that earned her the first Oscar nod of her career (and she got nominated again here, the only time to date that an actress has been nominated twice for playing the same part), but she’s not enough to overcome a problematic script and an overblown production. Her imperious ruler is fending off threats from powerful Spain and its mighty armada, assassination attempts originating from an imprisoned Catholic rival who’s next in line for the throne (Mary Stuart, played by Morton), and even smoldering looks from explorer Walter Raleigh (Owen). Positively drowsy at times compared to its predecessor, with all of the delicious intrigue and tension reduced to soapy melodrama and lumbering battles preceded by booming armor-clad speeches. Always great to look at (Alexandra Byrne’s costumes won an Academy Award)—which even extends to Blanchett, who is playing Elizabeth at a time when she would have been in her early-50s, yet still looks youthful and ravishing—but too little dramatic juice is squeezed, and it’s probably even more historically inaccurate than the last one.

47/100