It never occurred to me when I first saw Ben-Hur starring Charlton Heston that we might someday need another take on this story from the director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and that other film with the bending bullets. The original is one of my favorites; I watched it as a kid, around eight years old, and then again twice when I was about twenty. It’s a movie I genuinely enjoy and frequently quote lines from. This isn't a review of *that* version, though, because (not surprisingly!) it’s something else entirely. This is about the 2016 film, and I didn’t want to unfairly criticize it just because it's an unnecessary remake. Did you know this is actually the sixth Ben-Hur? The story centers on Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince living in Jerusalem during Christ’s time, and his adopted Roman brother, Massala. They have a close bond but get caught up in an attempt to assassinate a Roman official, which puts them on opposing sides. Both believe they are right, find themselves in a difficult situation, and that kicks off a five-year journey of survival, vengeance, and ultimately, forgiveness. I did enjoy the film. The chariot race was really exciting. I had concerns about it because the trailer showed a scene with what looked like a clearly computer-generated horse running through the stands. Fortunately, that was the only part that seemed to rely on CGI horses (at least as far as I could tell). Even though I knew how it would end, the race itself felt intense. The movie spends a lot of time exploring the relationship between Massala and Judah, along with Massala's interactions with the Hur family. Massala’s actions made sense; he wasn’t just some villain betraying his own people. The actors generally do an acceptable job, though not a spectacular one. I thought Morgan Freeman might have been going through the motions, but he did deliver what became one of my favorite lines from the movie. The slave drivers on the galley and the drummer were standouts for me; they had small parts, but I really liked them. I wasn’t keen on the scenes involving Jesus. It's a tricky character to portray, and his dialogue just didn’t resonate with me. Maybe I’m being overly critical, but I would have preferred he spoke in King James English or not at all—like they did in the Heston version. Something felt off about those moments, and they could have been more impactful. All things considered, it was a pretty good movie that succeeds in several areas, particularly with its themes of revenge and forgiveness, and it features one thrilling race sequence. It’s not flawless, but I thought it was a solid film overall.

Source on TMDB