With a still-luminous Cate Blanchett reprising her Oscar-nominated role as the queen in “Elizabeth,” today’s “Golden” glitters but has less value.
It’s been nine years since the dramatic Aussie actress jump-started her career as a big-screen leading lady, tackling an iconic figure of real British history and extravagant Hollywood legend. In this follow-up chapter, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” the character comes to life again as a visual centerpiece by returning director Shekhar Kapur.
In the more moving 1998 film, the young Elizabeth made the uneasy transition from starry-eyed girlhood to an acceptance of the heavy weight of the crown. The sequel follows a mature Virgin Queen who seems more caricature than flesh-and-blood as she must now deal with an ill-fated crush on Sir Walter Raleigh (a festooned Clive Owen at his 16th-century hunkiest) and the pivotal war confrontation of her reign against crusading “papist” King Philip II of Spain (Jordi Molla).
Alone, the beyond-magnificent stylings of the production design team make this spectacle a must-see for aesthetes. But its vibrant palette, thrilling textural costumes and gravity-defying hair sculptures somehow overshadow what should be the rousing and still approachable story of an extraordinary woman’s progression.
Even though the camera adores her in a rare way, the only thing as outsized as the cinematographic imagery here is Ms. Blanchett’s bold, vein-popping performance. She renders the monarch in middle age as a robust and confident presence in public but a jealous and vain figure in private. Her secret vulnerability doesn’t add to her humanity, though, since her sudden toggles from stalwart standard-bearer to weepy wimp seem arbitrary and unsupported in a script credited to Michael Hirst and William Nicholson.
Geoffrey Rush again plays Sir Francis Walsingham, the Protestant sovereign’s chief adviser, who continues to try to protect her from her Catholic enemies. But Elizabeth seems at least as concerned about Raleigh’s attentions toward her younger, prettier lady-in-waiting Bess Throckmorton (Abbie Cornish) as she does about threats to her personal safety and the kingdom. Soon, though, the deadly scheming of her imprisoned rival for the throne, Mary Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton), and a mighty Spanish armada crossing the English Channel will gather her full attention.
Unfortunately for “Elizabeth: the Golden Age,” it comes along with the memory of Helen Mirren’s sublime “Elizabeth I” for HBO last year still fresh. With Jeremy Irons as her worthy co-star playing Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, palace intrigue never seemed so serpentine or titillating. That TV production may have enjoyed a lower budget and much less extravagant beauty. But it retainined a heart, an earthiness that great shows about great people ought to have.
‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’
***
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Rated PG-13
