Napoleon: How to make an inaccurate biopic unintentionally hilarious

Napoleon is a 2023 biopic about the great French general and emperor, directed by the one and only Ridley Scott. Upon release, it got mixed reviews and bombed at the box office, barely making over its massive $200 million budget (a movie needs to make around double its budget to be considered profitable), and it annoyed historians as the movie had truckloads of historical inaccuracies. Seeing the movie, I can confirm that it’s not only inaccurate but it’s also the most unintentionally hilarious movie of the year.

Here’s why.

Firstly, is Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as the eponymous emperor. I should point out that Phoenix himself had no idea how to portray the character and even complained to Scott about it. And it clearly shows; that his performance is not only unengaging but also all over the place. There’s also a sense of disinterest in his performance, almost like he’s sleepwalking throughout the entire thing. He doesn’t even try an accent like he did in Gladiator and instead sounds more akin to his performance as Arthur Fleck in Joker, which doesn’t help matters at all. To make matters even more disappointing, even the French Dub actor gives off a slightly more compelling performance than he does.

Secondly is the tone of the movie. Despite the epic scale of the movie, the tone is just all over the place, with unintentionally hilarious scenes. One of which is Napoleon’s death at the end of the movie. He’s on St. Helena, sitting and staring off into the sea…………and then he slowly keels over out of frame as if he had passed out drunk. Yep. And the worst part is that it’s the final scene of the movie, even though it wouldn’t be out of place in an SNL skit.

Not the best way to end your movie, Scott.

However, that is nothing compared to the Egypt campaign, which is facepalm-worthy. For starters, he fires cannons at the pyramids before a battle, which never happened in real life and comes across as downright petty. Then he’s shown……..looking quite affectionately at a mummy and even touching its face; we even get a dramatic musical buildup to it which makes it even more laughable.

But that’s not the end of it. Oh, no.

We later learn from one of his officers that Josephine has cheated on Napoleon with another man. This upsets him so much that he dismisses him without dessert (sounding more like a parent rather than a general) and decides to abandon his ENTIRE CAMPAIGN to go back to France to confront her. His officers warn him that others will see it as desertion, but he doesn’t care. And when we see him get back to France, he’s completely temperamental and snapping at his staff, before it cuts to Josephine returning home and spotting her possessions on the lawn. I don’t need to further describe that scene because it feels like it belongs in a soap opera.

Anyway, I’m gonna cut this short because I don’t feel like the rest of the movie is worth mentioning, as it’s a complete mess and Ridley should have known better and should not have been so haughty. Your intentions can be good when writing a scene, even though it can be ridiculous, but sometimes, that ridiculousness can outweigh the pros. But in the end, it’s up to you to determine how you want to approach it.