Ben-Hur (2016)

Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Rodrigo Santoro

Synopsis:
A Judean prince is made a galley slave after his household is falsely accused of an attempted assassination.

Impressions:
To tackle a story like Ben-Hur, one that had already been brought to the silver screen so famously, is an unenviable task to say the least. Although I was curious to see this adaptation, I wasn't particularly eager. I come away with rather mixed feelings about it. Though fairly competent overall, it does feel a bit clumsy in its handling of the characters and themes. You also have the ironic combination of what seems like an effort to be more historically accurate yet feeling rather anachronistic. Some of the changes made to the plot hurt the film rather than help. Seeing James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont from Game of Thrones) on the galley, I was expecting him to be Arrius, but I was disappointed in that. Also, they go too far soft-pedaling Messala to make him more likable, which hurts the effectiveness of the tension between him and Judah. If you've never read the book or seen the previous two feature takes on the subject matter, you might like it more, but for me, while I didn't hate it, I wasn't much of a fan. Take it or leave it.

Rating:
50/50