Cue lights, camera, repeated action, going around in circles. The new version of “Ben-Hur,” out today, should by rights leave its illustrious predecessors in the dust, especially with that famous circuit chariot race. Now we have computer graphics and 3D cinema that should, in theory, vanquish both the 1925 silent version and even the 1959 epic that scooped 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.The 2016 version is billed as a reimagining or re-adaption of the story, not a remake. Still, it is hard to get out of the shadow of William Wyler’s masterpiece.The new movie is stylishly done, but the wheels come off the project even in the spectacular closing race. Wyler used jaw-dropping, sweeping shots of the rivals chasing around the Circus Maximus in Rome — 10,000 extras were used. This time, director Timur Bekmambetov was denied access to the Rome location for conservation reasons. He favors frenetic editing; each shot is only seconds long, so it’s hard to keep up.The basic plot remains. Jewish aristocrat Judah Ben-Hur is betrayed by his pro-Rome adoptive brother Messala, who accuses him of treason. He is a slave for five years in a Roman galley ship until he escapes. Ben-Hur’s life outlook is changed when he meets Jesus Christ (the Crucifixion scene is only briefly flicked at) and also befriends a wealthy sheikh who trains him in chariot racing, allowing him to eventually challenge Messala. We have brother against brother, slave against empire, empire against all rivals – and every single opportunity is mined for sea battles, shipwrecks, racing spectacles, and panoramic shots of warfare. Violence is everywhere.Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur is a tough act to follow. Jack Huston tries hard, but doesn’t quite have the same commanding presence. He isn’t helped by clichéd lines like “My family, they deserve justice for what has happened to them” or “I won’t let Messala go unpunished for what he has done to us.”The estimable Morgan Freeman also stars. He comes across as a dreadlocked sage – like an ethnic wizard from any Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings film rather than the Nubian sheikh he is meant to be. Freeman also narrates in his godlike baritone, handing down decrees from the cringe-worthy to the gnomic: “The world you live in is Rome, their laws, their power”; “in the arena, there is no law: racing is a blood sport. If you lose you die”; or “If your brother is the pride of Rome, defeat him and you’ll defeat an empire.”One half expects him to throw in lines from his “Shawshank Redemption” character Red, who fondly quotes “get busy living or get busy dying.” The first to finish the race is the last to die, we are told.On social media, the movie is already set up to be the flop of the summer. It is true that the films that do best at the box office often have well-known superheroes battling it out, such as Marvel’s “Avengers” or DC’s “Dark Knight.” This script doesn’t have Superman, Batman, Hulk, Captain America or whoever, just a gritty Ben-Hur who is very human and hurt underneath it all.On the plus side, it seems a little premature to write its commercial obituary on the day of its release when it has good qualities. The best movies can even tell simple human stories without a superhero in sight. It ought to get some chutzpah points for daring to take on the Ben-Hur story. This is not a revisit as questionable as “The Italian Job” or “Conan the Barbarian”; it has its moments, and bowls along in two hours – quite enough to decide whether the brickbats are deserved.This film is much shorter than the 1959 version, though you might do best to devote another hour to see Charlton Heston act everyone off the screen. Perhaps Russell Crowe could have done the job.If all else fails, consider retitling the new work “Sadiator” or “Chariots of Misfire.”“Ben-Hur,” Paramount/MGM, releases on August 19, 2016.
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