Tristan + Isolde is a movie about two lovers whose love ruined a kingdom. I went into this movie with quite high expectations, Historical setting, James Franco, battle scenes, young beautiful people in love - and while this movie did have all those things for some reason they just didn't seem to come together right.
The dialogue between Tristan & Isolde was either too flowery or too abrupt, the only time the actors seemed to connect was when they were kissing and to me i was quite mystified as to when they actually had fallen in love, which is always an annoyance in romance movies. And while the acting was very good, (kudos to James Franco for mastering the British accent beautifully) I was put off by the fact that Tristan spent half the movie crying - not the best image for a hero, and Sophia Myles faux Irish accent became too much to bear after awhile that you just wanted her to ditch it.
Unnecessary sweeping camera shots, awkward angles and some very unflattering shots of the actors, for example: there is a moment in the sea just after Isolde has sent Tristan back to Britain and she turns around just as a wave hits her - the corresponding look on her face made me wonder if this was an outtake accidentally left in, all conspired to bring this movie down, when it could have been an epic love story.
Even the ending didn't bring any kind of emotional response (and i cry during The O.C.)And the child actors leave much to be desired because unfortunately Dakota Fanning has set the bar too high.
However there are bright spots, Henry Cavill was good, Rufus Sewell was perfect - so perfect in fact that i was rooting for him to have Isolde over Tristan.
All in all i wish i had waited until this came out of DVD instead of forking out money to sit in an empty movie theatre with one other person who kept sniffing.
The dialogue between Tristan & Isolde was either too flowery or too abrupt, the only time the actors seemed to connect was when they were kissing and to me i was quite mystified as to when they actually had fallen in love, which is always an annoyance in romance movies. And while the acting was very good, (kudos to James Franco for mastering the British accent beautifully) I was put off by the fact that Tristan spent half the movie crying - not the best image for a hero, and Sophia Myles faux Irish accent became too much to bear after awhile that you just wanted her to ditch it.
Unnecessary sweeping camera shots, awkward angles and some very unflattering shots of the actors, for example: there is a moment in the sea just after Isolde has sent Tristan back to Britain and she turns around just as a wave hits her - the corresponding look on her face made me wonder if this was an outtake accidentally left in, all conspired to bring this movie down, when it could have been an epic love story.
Even the ending didn't bring any kind of emotional response (and i cry during The O.C.)And the child actors leave much to be desired because unfortunately Dakota Fanning has set the bar too high.
However there are bright spots, Henry Cavill was good, Rufus Sewell was perfect - so perfect in fact that i was rooting for him to have Isolde over Tristan.
All in all i wish i had waited until this came out of DVD instead of forking out money to sit in an empty movie theatre with one other person who kept sniffing.