By Faith McQuinn

ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE is not a film that coddles its audience. You’re kind of thrown into the middle of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. If you don’t know what’s going on by the time you finish reading the five sentences that open the movie, tough luck. Just grab on and enjoy the ride. Well…enjoy some of the ride.

Cate Blanchett, as always, is friggin’ amazing. Her Elizabeth is not simply a stoic woman who wears gorgeous dresses and sits quietly on her throne. She’s powerful and moody and even childish at times. She commanded the screen, as I’d like to believe Elizabeth commanded her court, but she never looses the humanity of the Queen either. I could watch her act all day.

Samantha Morton and Rhys Ifans as Mary, Queen of Scots and Robert Reston (both conspirators in the Babington Plot) were pretty darn good themselves. It was kind of sad that they only had about ten minutes on screen combined.

The movie was visually stunning. Cinematographer Remi Adefarasin and director Shekhar Kapur collaborated to make one spectacular looking film. The immensely wide shots and the angelic lighting were a treat for the eyes. The costumes were also spectacular. Though, I really don’t know how any period piece about royalty can ever have bad costumes.

OK. Now that I’ve discussed the best parts, let’s move on to the worst parts.

Exactly where in history does it say that Queen Elizabeth acted like a spoiled high school girl? I understand that she probably had whiny moments and outbursts of emotion, but there are a few scenes in this movie where I thought I might be watching some really gimmicky reality show.


First, there’s an intimate moment between the Queen and Sir Walter Raleigh (the overtly handsome Clive Owen). They are speaking as two close friends would, and then she asks for a kiss. A kiss?! Really? I’d like to believe Queen Elizabeth was more strong-willed than this. I guess not. Later, when the Queen confronts her lady-in-waiting Bess (Abbie Cornish) about her pregnancy, the Queen doesn’t simply get angry; she starts a cat fight! Raleigh runs into the room to find these Elizabeth beating on Bess and he exclaims, “This is not the Queen I love!” Wow. Way to play the big man.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. The small, quieter moments almost make up for the melodramatic soap opera scenes. The inspiring speech Elizabeth gives to her troops is great. The sweeping shots of the Spanish Armada are beautiful. But everything seems to pass too quickly. We move through this pivotal time in Elizabeth’s reign a little too fast. I think I would’ve liked this film better had the love triangle story been left out, and more time had been spent on the Babington Plot and the Spanish Armada.


It almost seems the Shekhar Kapur just really needed to see Cate Blanchett doing her thing, so he decided to do this sequel. There’s no doubt in my mind that Cate Blanchett will get and Oscar nomination for this, and hey, maybe she’ll win this time. But the film as a whole isn’t as wonderful as the first ELIZABETH.