Park51, a name that does not ring a lot of bells in the American psyche. But what if I were to say “9/11 Mosque”? Does that conjure up images of New Yorkers and Americans rallying together to stop the construction of an Islamic center just blocks from the site of the Twin Towers? Polarizing and a view into the window of religious dialogue and tolerance, Building Babel is an appropriate title to a film that shows the monumental task of courting controversy and believing in what you do.
Boy was I disappointed with this movie when it came out. It made itself out to be this epic action adventure with the focus of the story being on the crusades. Instead, I get truncated story about the crusades in order for the medieval action to become the set piece in a beautiful looking movie. Listen, I love action movies. There is nothing better than watching some medieval ass whooping with guys in armor and broadswords being swung like sticks with the intent to kill. If you are going to make a movie with incredible actors and place them in the setting of The Crusades, then there better be a story. If I wanted battles, I would go play Civilization or Rome Total Empire. I can get my fix that way.
So it my initial thought about the movie was that Ridley Scott is finally getting back into some epics. It looks great, I was pumped to see the cast, yes even Orlando Bloom, and it had the backdrop of the crusades to give us some historical perspective. The theatrical release was a mess and it wasn’t until the directors cut of the film that let me give it a second chance. What a vast difference the original intent of the movie had.
