The Ridley Scott–epic Napoleon really is an epic — unlike Killers of the Flowers Moon, which is merely long (sorry, Maddy, I can’t let it go). Scott’s Napoleon covers several decades and still clocks in at about an hour shorter than Killers. No, the problem here is the depiction of Napoleon by Joaquin Phoenix. He renders one of the greatest leaders of all time uninteresting, uncharismatic, and unintelligent. He’s stolid and witless — no one would invite this guy to dinner, let alone follow him into battle. As Kyle Smith puts it in his typically spot-on review, “Mr. Phoenix’s Napoleon could never have commanded so much as a squadron of the Salvation Army.” The battle scenes are interesting to the eye, but even the depiction of Napoleon’s military genius is flat. You don’t have to be a Napoleon revisionist like our friend Andrew Roberts to consider this movie a rank disservice to history and a disappointment on its own terms. It’s presumably not easy to take one of the most compelling figures ever to lead men and make him a doltish bore, but Ridley Scott and Joaquin Phoenix have managed it.