Filmology Rating: 2 out of 4

Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) is falsely accused of treason and loses everything after his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), who left home years prior and is now an officer in the Roman army. Ben-Hur is stripped of everything he owns and is separated from his wife (Nazanin Boniadi) and family and forced into years of slavery in the rowing for the roman army. Against all odds, he survives and given a second chance by Ilderim (Morgan Freeman) who owns a team of horses. An epic and deadly chariot race brings these two brothers together once again and Ben-Hur finally gets his chance to get vengeance on the man who destroyed his life.

For those unaware, this is a remake of the 1959 version staring Charlton Heston. The original movie is tied along with two others, Titanic and Lord of the Rings Return of the King, with the most Oscars given to a single movie (11). This 3 hr. 44 min. movie is in my opinion, an all-time classic that everyone should see. I will get into this more a little bit later. So with this review, I’ll be reviewing the movie as a whole and then as a second part, I’ll be comparing it to the original to see how it measures up. (The original Ben-Hur was actually in 1907 as a short film and then in 1925 and was a silent black and white film. I’ll be comparing this new film to the 1959 Heston version) 

(This is mostly a review for the people that haven’t seen the original film)
The new Ben-Hur film has a lot of ups and downs to it. I really did like aspects of the movie but some needed some big improvements. I’ll start with the things that needed improvements. The editing needed to be a lot better. During the action scenes, there are a lot of very fast and choppy edits paired with a little bit of shaky camera work that all add up to almost a nauseating effect. The strange thing about this is that it wasn’t a constant thing! Sometimes the action was filmed right and looked amazing actually and then the quick edits came back. I was very frustrated with how they did this because if they would’ve stuck with the long panning takes that showed off the grandeur of the situation, it would have had a much more epic feeling to it. This by far was the biggest issue for me and it was a doozy. Next on the list is clunky dialogue. A lot of the dialogue felt rushed and forced and this lead to characters without depth. While some were able to overcome this every now and then, it still weighed heavy throughout the majority of the film. Ben-Hur’s character Jack Huston was by far the best actor and actually did a great job for what he was given. These by far are the two biggest flaws with the movie. 

For those of you who haven’t seen the originals, you will very much like the plot because it is a classic one at that. It’s a story that can easily pull at your emotions and make you truly invested in this Ben-Hur. A man falsely accused, taken away from his family, a slave who escaped, a chariot race to get revenge, I mean what's not to like with this plot? Along with an excellent story, the film does have some interesting action sequences. How many movies in modern cinema have ancient naval warfare and then a chariot race? Not too many so these are really fun to see. However as I mentioned, they did need more work done when it came to the editing department and how they were filmed. When I say this, I have a few scenes in mind that needed work. An opening horse racing scene when Ben-Hur and Marsala were younger was really bad and then the chariot race needed some work as well. However, the battle scene at sea with Ben-Hur under the deck in the galley of the ship was awesome. This was very well done. If only they stuck with this style throughout the film. 

Now there are some good lessons about forgiveness, family ties, peace, and more….. However none were really portrayed as good as the original. That’s all I really want to want to say before I go and compare it to the original down below.

If you want an action movie with a good story then Ben-Hur should deliver that for you. However, if you are one to look at the more technical aspects of a film, then some issues start to arise.

-Nick