I visit the cinema infrequently these days,  however the Christmas break lured me to see Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon”.

Firstly, it is loooong at two hours and thirty eight minutes. Incredibly, it is effectively an edited version of a mini series with over four hours  material to choose from

Anecdotal criticism  is of historical inaccuracy, I wasn’t there, but I didn’t notice anything grossly wrong. Wellington still wins the Battle of Waterloo, the Americans don’t come to the rescue, instead the Prussians ( awkward) do.

Joaquin Phoenix is resolute in the title role, Vanessa Kirby sizzles as Josephine. Ridley predictably handles the action sequences superbly, and with the battles of Austerlitz and Borodino to tackle he is in his element.

I was brought up on Christopher Plummer’s Wellington defeating Napoleon in Waterloo ( 1970), its narrower focus makes it the better film.