Elizabeth: The Golden Age picks up shortly after where Elizabeth (also directed by Shekhar Kapur, 1998) left off. It’s 1585 and Roman Catholic Spain is the most powerful country in Europe. That is no good for England, with its Protestant nature, or Queen Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett who is once again brilliant in the role). King Philip II of Spain intends to take over the English soil no matter the cost, so he can then appoint his own daughter, Isabella, the Queen of England upon Elizabeth’s destruction.
Philip has had ties to England before and this experience that fuels his quest so adamantly. Once married to Elizabeth’s sister, Mary I, as she was queen of England, he was denied the crown after her death. The Parliament appointed Elizabeth as England’s new Queen instead.
Outside of that little problem, Elizabeth has another. Francis (Geoffrey Rush), her political adviser, insists she gets married and have a child. She isn’t getting any younger and she has no child of her own to pass on the throne. She meets Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), who presents her with gifts from the New World and stories of high-seas adventure, and becomes attracted to his charms. The rest of the kingdom advices her against supporting his piracy but she sees passed it.
What follows are foreseeable betrayals, plentiful melodramatics between the Queen and her surrounding, and the inevitable war sequence. For so much going on, you can’t help but be more captivated by the visuals than by what is going on. You can’t deny the captivation of Spain attempting to take over England, only this film fails to draw your attention. The Golden Age’s predecessor was just as dramatic but way less routine. It’s like the filmmakers cared much more about Elizabeth the first time around than they did this go-round. You find yourself more enticed by the costumes, odd facial hair configurations, and crazy wigs more than anything else. It even managed to top a Michael Bay film with the excessive amount of 360 degree spinning camera shots.
There are a slew of special features on this DVD dedicated to both the production of the film and to what inspired this new chapter of Elizabeth’s life that are actually more captivating than the film itself. There is an extensive feature dedicated to the various locations used for the film and to how the Armada sequences came to life. The actual sequences in the film are a little less than engaging, outside of the visual aspect of course, and it’s one of those rare times where a feature on a DVD is more enjoyable than the final result.
