Queen for Another Day

Having checked out Elizabeth, and mostly enjoying it, I decided to watch the more recent follow-up, Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Once again, writer Michael Hirst penned the screenplay; this time, the movie was coming right about the time his television series, The Tudors, was gearing up for its premiere.

As with the first Elizabeth, I think the way he chooses to treat this subject matter works better as a television series than as a movie. He's trying to cover a lot of ground in this movie, and I think it would have played better spread over the arc of a television season. Paradoxically, at the same time, the pacing of the movie is a bit slow in places. I think he wants to take his time, and occasionally gives in to that impulse, which makes the movie lag a bit here and there.

This time out, the story revolves around two main elements. First is the build-up to war between Spain and England, and the attempt of the Spanish Armada to attack the English coast. (If you know your history, you know how that turned out.) Second is a romance (of sorts) between Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh. Both are somewhat interesting threads but, as I said before, not given quite enough space to breathe.

Once again, the acting is strong. Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush return to their roles from the original film. Rush actually doesn't have very much to do -- rather a disappointment. But Blanchett is commanding and captivating. She makes Elizabeth's strength look easy, and let's you see how untrue that really is in her more vulnerable moments. She received an Oscar nomination for this, and it was deserved.

Joining them this time around are Clive Owen as Raleigh and Samantha Morton as Mary Stuart (better known as Mary, Queen of Scots). Neither can quite measure up to the towering force of Cate Blanchett's performance, but both do fine work in their roles. The former is an excellent charmer, the latter an entertaining rival.

But overall, the sum of this movie's parts comes out a bit less than the first Elizabeth. If you liked the one, I can't imagine you wouldn't enjoy this one. Still, it's definitely not quite as good, and accordingly I rate it just a notch lower. I give Elizabeth: The Golden Age a C+.