Rita recommends Elizabeth but not, Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Elizabeth (199 and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) are both directed by Shekhar Kapur. I had seen Elizabeth almost 10 years ago and remembered liking it and Cate Blanchett, who is absolutely luminous as Queen Elizabeth, the so-called Virgin Queen. To refresh my memory, I watched it again and also saw its sequel, Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I prefer Elizabeth to the one made last year. Both films are a feast for the eyes, the set design—stunning, the costumes—stellar, and the acting by Blanchett—riveting. That said, something was sorely lacking in Golden Age. Visually, it is as captivating as the first Elizabeth, but something is missing. Perhaps the intrigue
wasn’t as compelling as the first. Some of the lines in Golden Age are just plain silly. Whereas, in the first Elizabeth, the queen-to-be is unsure of herself and has to navigate a battlefield of political assassins in her path to ascend the throne. In part 2, Spain, as her primary enemy, just does not seem so much a threat as a nuisance. The plot meanders and after awhile, her love interest, Sir Walter Raleigh, played by Clive Owens, was annoying and burdensome. The scenes between Queen Elizabeth and her main lady-in-waiting (Samantha Morton) were much more playful and sensual but I may be a bit biased in that department! Go see for yourself.