I'm no fan at all of cinematic remakes and the decision to re-do the Charlton Heston classic seems very silly to me when there are plenty of flawed works that could do with being revamped. This film's fine enough as a stand-alone production but it pales in comparison to the original movie. For a modern film it's pretty decent, with plenty of historical accuracy and some nice actors chosen for the main parts. I enjoyed it well enough, at least until that ruinous pop song comes on just before the end credits, and even the religious aspect is handled quite sensitively. Jack Huston is a likeable lead who undergoes a huge character arc, and Toby Kebbell brings passion and depth to what could have been a stock bad guy role. The story flags at times but is generally lifted by solid action, sometimes featuring pretty poor CGI effects. The climactic chariot race is nowhere near as good as the original's, but I was surprised that it's still very good, especially so given that Russian director Timur Bekmambetov has previously made some very bad films indeed.

(Flash Review)Rather than dive into the lengthy story of this latest Ben-Hur, I'll say at a high level it is about love, friendship, honor and determination during the period when Jesus walked the Earth. Many say there was no need to recreate the massive 3.5hr famous epic 1959 version with Heston. Hollywood felt otherwise and peppered this movie with money and marketing resources yet didn't focus enough on a crisp story. I don't recall much from the 1959 version but this felt too glossy and the historical chariot race was modernly jarring and frantic; mildly entertaining while lacking character. I'm not sure if the scenes with Jesus were better worked into the 1959 story to highlight his importance but here he was sporadically mentioned and then they bolted on his respectfully produced and told crucifixion scene. The inclusion, flow and pacing of that final scene was unexpected. One darkly amusing part was with a loyal battleship drummer who was determined to keep the beat for the rowers despite being set on fire by a flame arrow.

They did a really, good job with this, and I am grateful they did it. If you are expecting anything similar to the Charlton Heston version, you will be immensely disappointed, this takes a different approach, but they did keep the vital stuff. If viewers keep that in mind, it will be a great film.

Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) is a Jewish prince from a wealthy family in Roman-occupied Jerusalem. His beloved adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell) is a Roman. Despite his plead, Messala leaves to join the Roman army where he attracts the patronage of Pontius Pilate. Judah and girlfriend Esther encounter peace-preaching carpenter Jesus. Judah cares for an injured Zealot at his home. When Messala escorts Pontius Pilate on a triumphant entry into the city, Judah's Zealot attacks from his home. Judah falsely confesses and is sent into slavery to row in the navy. After a battle, he is washed ashore and rescued by chariot manager Sheik Ilderim (Morgan Freeman). He returns home to challenge Messala in the chariot race.There has to be a better reason to remake this iconic Hollywood epic. The changes are not compelling enough to justify another version. The most compelling change is Messala. He's more human and less of a two-dimensional villain. After all, somebody fired an arrow and not accidentally dropped a tile. The scale is good enough but does not exceed the original. The chariot race has good action but gets chaotic at times. This has some good changes and relatively good production. The question remains why it was made at all.