There were quite a number of reasons for wanting to see 'The Last Duel'. Ridley Scott has made some great films, such as 'Alien', 'Blade Runner' and 'Thelma and Louise'. The story structure, the same event told from three different points of view and with three stories, sounded fascinating and ambitious. Love films set in medieval periods. The cast also promised a lot, have liked some of the work of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Adam Driver has impressed me in much of his work and this reviewer fell in love with Jodie Comer ever since binge watching 'Killing Eve'.
Seeing it, 'The Last Duel' had a lot of great things and was interesting. It was also though rather disjointed and falls short in a few areas. Of the two 2021 films Scott directed, the other being 'House of Gucci', my vote for the better film goes to this. Despite also being very uneven, 'The Last Duel' is more focused tonally, more involving with not as many pacing issues and although not all the performances work none are as bad as Jared Leto's in that film, despite being a fan of a higher number of actors in that film.
Am going to start with the good. On the most part, 'The Last Duel' looks very lavish and atmospheric in the costumes and settings and is also beautifully shot. The music is a wonderful mix of haunting, rousing and hypnotic, as well as cleverly and ravishingly orchestrated. Scott's direction on the most part is accomplished and much more assured than in 'House of Gucci'. Of the performances, the best comes from a truly incadescent Comer, helped by that she is the most interesting character and that her story is the most consistently compelling of the three, and the final act is truly powerful emotionally and in suspense.
Driver is very good too, with lots of authority and intensity, his character is interesting and complex and there is real suspense in seeing whether he did what he was accused of or not. The action on the whole enthralls and is suitably uncompromising, not shying away from the cruelty of war and the aftermath. The final duel is spectacularly staged and shockingly brutal. There is some thought provoking dialogue and the story structure does compel generally, especially in the final act.
Having said that, the execution of the story isn't completely successful. Did find the first story/act rather dull and stagy on the whole, with some very stilted dialogue, and there are times where the film is a little too repetitive. The dialogue has moments, but too much of it (especially in the first act) is self-indulgent and awkward.
Furthermore, Damon came over as rather bland, one that needed more authority and intensity but saw a lot of forced angry moments and looking haughty from Damon. Driver had the more complex character and hasn't been acting for as long, but managed to be a lot more convincing when it came to the authority and the intensity. Affleck's performance is also truly bizarre and out of place, even for a character that drinks a lot and a party animal sort of character Affleck throughout his screen time looked and spoke like someone would recovering from a bad hangover. There is some very jumpy and choppy editing that gave the film a sense of incompleteness.
Interesting and ambitious film with many great things and moments of brilliance, but also rather disjointed. 6/10.
Seeing it, 'The Last Duel' had a lot of great things and was interesting. It was also though rather disjointed and falls short in a few areas. Of the two 2021 films Scott directed, the other being 'House of Gucci', my vote for the better film goes to this. Despite also being very uneven, 'The Last Duel' is more focused tonally, more involving with not as many pacing issues and although not all the performances work none are as bad as Jared Leto's in that film, despite being a fan of a higher number of actors in that film.
Am going to start with the good. On the most part, 'The Last Duel' looks very lavish and atmospheric in the costumes and settings and is also beautifully shot. The music is a wonderful mix of haunting, rousing and hypnotic, as well as cleverly and ravishingly orchestrated. Scott's direction on the most part is accomplished and much more assured than in 'House of Gucci'. Of the performances, the best comes from a truly incadescent Comer, helped by that she is the most interesting character and that her story is the most consistently compelling of the three, and the final act is truly powerful emotionally and in suspense.
Driver is very good too, with lots of authority and intensity, his character is interesting and complex and there is real suspense in seeing whether he did what he was accused of or not. The action on the whole enthralls and is suitably uncompromising, not shying away from the cruelty of war and the aftermath. The final duel is spectacularly staged and shockingly brutal. There is some thought provoking dialogue and the story structure does compel generally, especially in the final act.
Having said that, the execution of the story isn't completely successful. Did find the first story/act rather dull and stagy on the whole, with some very stilted dialogue, and there are times where the film is a little too repetitive. The dialogue has moments, but too much of it (especially in the first act) is self-indulgent and awkward.
Furthermore, Damon came over as rather bland, one that needed more authority and intensity but saw a lot of forced angry moments and looking haughty from Damon. Driver had the more complex character and hasn't been acting for as long, but managed to be a lot more convincing when it came to the authority and the intensity. Affleck's performance is also truly bizarre and out of place, even for a character that drinks a lot and a party animal sort of character Affleck throughout his screen time looked and spoke like someone would recovering from a bad hangover. There is some very jumpy and choppy editing that gave the film a sense of incompleteness.
Interesting and ambitious film with many great things and moments of brilliance, but also rather disjointed. 6/10.