Ben-Hur

Last night my family and I went to see an early screening of Ben-Hur.  I thought it was exciting, to say the least, and I really enjoyed it despite what many critics have said.  Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) is a wealthy prince in Roman-occupied Jerusalem and Messala (Toby Kebbell) is a Roman orphan who has been adopted into the Ben-Hur household.  While the two brothers are extremely close, they are divided by religion and Messala feels that he will never be a part of the family after a romance with Judah's sister is frowned upon.  Messala joins the Roman legion and, after a number of years, returns to Jerusalem as an officer trying to quell the zealots.  Eventually, Messala accuses Judah of treason for harboring a zealot and condemns him as a galley slave.  Judah escapes (in an epic battle scene) and encounters Iderim (Morgan Freeman), an African trader who becomes his mentor.  Judah longs for revenge and Iderim convinces him to race a chariot against Messala.  A parallel story involves the ministry of Jesus Christ (Rodrigo Santoro) and the conversion of the brothers to Christianity after the race.  The story of revenge and forgiveness is very compelling, but I think that the revenge took too long to set up and the forgiveness happened too quickly.  In between, however, the action sequences are absolutely incredible.  The aforementioned naval battle between Greece and Rome is amazing because it is shown entirely from the perspective of the slaves below deck and Judah's escape is incredibly suspenseful because he is chained to the other slaves who are being dragged into the water.  The chariot race is brutal, but tremendously exciting to watch!  Microphones were placed on the legs of the horses to capture the thundering sounds of their hooves on the track and GoPro cameras were buried in the sand to give the feeling of being in the middle of the race.  Much of the scene involved practical stunts rather than CGI and it was intense!  I found myself having to look away at times, especially when chariot drivers were trampled!  I have to admit that I have not seen the William Wyler classic staring Charlton Heston (to which this adaptation is being compared unfavorably) but I can't imagine that chariot race being better than this one!  This movie has flaws, but as a late summer blockbuster, it certainly delivers the thrills!