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Ridley Scott's epic retelling of the rise and fall of the iconic French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte reunites the director with Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix, some 23 years after Phoenix played Commodus in Scott's masterpiece, Gladiator.

Fusing the epic and the intimate, Napoleon delivers huge battle sequences and gripping political subterfuge, all through the lens of perhaps the most obsessive, passionate love story in history.

With a screenplay by David Scarpa (Scott's All The Money In The World), Napoleon charts the Corsican-born French military commander's meteoric rise from soldier – he made his name at the siege of Toulon, which is extravagantly brought to life here – to emperor.

Scott and Phoenix do a deep dive into Napoleon's psyche, etching an egotist of magnificent proportions ("I am the first to admit when I made a mistake. I simply never do," he observes). It's a gift of a role for Phoenix, who promises to thrive on the contradictory impulses of such a rich character.

Yet at the centre of his life and the film is his complicated, volatile relationship with Joséphine de Beauharnais. Played by Vanessa Kirby (best known for The Crown and the Mission: Impossible series), Joséphine represents Napoleon's fatal flaw. In Kirby's hands, she is no one-note love interest; instead she is by turns submissive and manipulative, fragile and forthright ("You're just a tiny little brute that is nothing without me," she tells him), as difficult to pin down as their eccentric, shifting, riveting relationship.

As you'd expect from the man behind Alien, Blade Runner and The Martian, the film is a feast for the eyes. Scott shows Napoleon's life in indelible images, many paying homage to the famous works of art that celebrated the Emperor's ascent. Napoleon on horseback positioned before the Great Sphinx of Giza glimpsed in the trailer references an 1886 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme. Underlining Scott's painterly qualities as a filmmaker, Napoleon is beautifully crafted but not the typical chocolate box historical hagiography.

Scott and his team have imbued the story with a veracity and urgency that breathes new life into oft-told history.
This is nowhere more evident than in the creation of Napoleon's most famous battles. Scott and his team give masterclasses in practically staged action sequences. The sub-zero conflict that made up 1805's Battle of Austerlitz takes place in an atmospheric swirl of fog and frost. In it, Napoleon hoodwinks the Austrians and Russians into storming the French forces, then unleashes hell with cannon fire that breaks the ice on which the armies are unwittingly standing.

Covered by 11 cameras and featuring more than 800 extras, the Battle of Waterloo is staged in atrocious weather with full-on blood and thunder – but this is never played for thrills or heroism. Instead, it's a breathtaking but clear-eyed depiction of the futility of combat.

As such, Napoleon is that rare cinematic event: a historical drama that doesn't skimp on huge action set pieces but is alive to the psychological depths of its complex, mesmerising main characters.

The titular protagonist may have been diminutive in height but Ridley Scott's latest is towering in stature and ambition. And one that can only be experienced on the biggest Picturehouse screen you can find.    Ian Freer

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