This looks pretty damn great. That was my first thought. My second thought: Joaquin Phoenix isn’t doing an accent. Okay, I suppose he’s putting on the slight trace of an accent in the soft way he’s speaking. But anyone who expected the actor to run around the movie with a thick French accent — sorry! That doesn’t seem to be happening. And honestly, that’s for the better. Scott did something similar with “The Last Duel,” a film where all the characters were French but spoke in (mostly) unaccented English. Scott seems to realize that such accents can be distracting, and it’s better to ignore them completely (that wasn’t the case with “House of Gucci,” which had a lot of goofy accents).
“Napoleon” is described as “a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar®-winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte’s relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his one true love, Josephine, showcasing his visionary military and political tactics against some of the most dynamic practical battle sequences ever filmed.” The film also stars Vanessa Kirby as Empress Joséphine.
Look for “Napoleon” in theaters on November 22, 2023.