"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" tells the tale of veteran ruler Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) at the fear of being overthrown by the powerful King of Spain Philip II (Jordi Molla) as he's on a crusade to declare full Catholic dominance in Europe in hopes that his young daughter becomes the new Queen of England. Meanwhile the scheming Mary Queen of the Scots (Samantha Morton) has plans of her own to dethrone Elizabeth by throwing her into her prison. When Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) returns from England after spending years in the New World, Elizabeth becomes enthralled by his presence as well as her lady in waiting Bess (Abbie Cornish). Chief Adviser Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) continues to negotiate with the court affairs as he listens in on Mary's evil plots. Mary's demise was the perfect foil for Philip to release the infamous Spanish Armada in hopes to overthrow Elizabeth as the Queen of England. "I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too; and think foul scorn that ... Spain, or any prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and reward of every one of your virtues in the field." This was the words of encouragement Her Majesty as she gathers her troops in Tilbury to take down the Spanish Armada in 1588. This "Golden Speech" is one of the most quotable words in British history that's up there with the many that was said by Shakespeare and Churchill and that neither Hollywood can ever botch or paraphrase those famous words. No matter how hard they try. In 1998, I had the chance to see 1998's "Elizabeth" directed by Shekhar Kapur and my reaction was that is was incredibly stunning, but I had some issues with the pacing and I didn't really like Joseph Fiennes. In spite of those shortcoming it had plenty of Academy Awards nominations and other accolades to its credits. Nine years after that, they made the much anticipated sequel which is emphasizing on Elizabeth I and her relationship with Raleigh and the Religion Wars with Spain. From my knowledge I read that the Spanish couldn't get through because the English bays were not overly deep enough and the usages of fire ships and were also problematic. Strange as it seems, but Britain has been spared many times thanks to the waters surrounding the little country. Even their biggest ships were overturned due to excess stacking and abysmal weather conditions. As for the film itself the costumes were quite gorgeous, but the historical inaccuracies were way overwhelming. Whether it's the fictionalized homicidal attempt by gunpoint, or the uses of historical locations, the undermining of Sir Walter Raleigh and the condemning of the Roman Catholic Church, the misconceptions in the motives of Mary Stuart and the Spanish as a whole, the falsifying will likely scratch the heads of any historical fanatic. On the entertaining level, it is quite satisfying and will keep you on the edge of your seat, but the Spanish Armada is overwrought with a tedious montage sequence proceeded by an unorthodox shot of Elizabeth standing in a hallway. The entertainment value is pretty good and should leave a positive impression to the open public (not as good the first installment), however is there another reason why we should see another retelling of Elizabeth's life? I mean she's making more screen appearances than Abe Lincoln who seems to be in everything. One of the things that underwhelmed me about this movie was the lack of a grandeur epic moment. This sequel should've been flooded with highlights to usurp the predecessor, but with the exception of the Armada, this film was watered down badly. I guess the scene that caught my eyes was the one involving Philip II of Spain. Not because of the green hue or his personality as a cowering religious radical, but the peculiar ways the shots were handled. Which also includes the rather obscene dance scenes ever shot on film. Acting wise the supporting cast seemed underdeveloped, but Blanchett shows her true dominance as a leading performer. Even though this movie was very flawed, historically inaccurate and not overpowering in its delivery, this sequel is still strongly entertaining to watch if you like costume dramas, but if you want historical accuracy, it would better if you just read about in textbook.

A single woman is adored by idiot film-makers.Poor romantic propaganda - and then we have to put up with Clive Owen too. Curses! And I have yet to see a good recreation of the Spanish Armada.This story is stuffed with Anglo bolloxology and completely fails to get to the heart of an amazing person. Blanchett plays the role well, but Elizabeth was a swat and a bitch + none of the humour of her privileged life comes across.Plus Burghley was the major influence on her life, not the totalitarian Walsingham. I'm getting too specific. But Clive Owen? Pshaw!

If your looking for a history lesson, you'd do better with Toy Story. This fluff-piece is a joke compared to its predecessor which has as much historical value as a wooden nickel. Apparently, according to this film, Elizabeth Tudor whined and whimpered and yelled all her queenly life in over-lit hallways that suggest that the halogen lamp was invented in the 16th century. Not a shadow to be seen on these movie sets. This time around, Elizabeth mopes and screams and whines like a jilted fifteen year old. Her maid in waiting, Bess Throckmorton, apparently missed all her acting classes because she could do nothing more than stare and vaguely smile. Clive Owen, who shows no more acting ability beyond that of a disembodied foot, looks like a cheap cartoon version of Errol Flynn in tights as he bandies around on ship ropes. He obviously texted in his role, sounding almost as dull and talentless as Liam Neeson doing Shakespeare. Even Bette Davis' version with Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland, another fluff piece, had the smarts to portray Elizabeth as a real queen, acerbic, angry, confused, intimidating to her suitors, but ultimately capable of running a powerful country, taking up more space than her underlings. Here, Cate Blanchett, whines and sobs like she had just failed her SATS and does nothing more important than wear clothes. Some scenes are so ridiculous, you'd thing you were watching a back story of the making of Project Runway. Cate Blanchett, in this version, seemed more interested in the buffet for the cast members than acting like she ruled one of the most powerful forces in European history. The only interesting piece centers on the revisionist version of Mary, Queen of Scots. Unfortunately, like half the film, her demise is filmed entirely in slow motion, making her drawn-out execution last longer than her actual life. This film would have cost half the time to watch if they hadn't filmed so much of it in slo-mo. Snore. This is the crib notes to history, lazily made for coasting high-schoolers, most of whom cheat on tests and are no more interested in actual history than the wigs on their head and their designer's dresses. Which brings us to the trumped-up reason for Elizabeth's white makeup and hair pieces. In this film, the writers want to give the impression that Elizabeth's most important decision was to become a born-again virgin. In reality, she suffered from eczema, lice and rickets. Her appearance and hair faux paus were more an excuse to cover up those maladies, not a goth need to look wacky to her subjects. While the previous film suffers from revisionism and loose attention to history books, it has beauty and depth this film lampoons. At worst, the first film avoids looking like it's brightly filmed on the set of "Friends." And, strangely, in a story about an historical figure whose beauty, or loss of it, Cate Blanchett is not only very attractive but the only character that doesn't age. My advice: stop reading magazines about body consciousness, get the heck off your pointless cell phones, stop watching "Stupid Vapid Housewives from Any County, and read a book on this amazing woman in English history. She took up a lot more space than this waste of celluloid implies.

It's 1585. An older Queen Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) navigates royal court intrigue and international affairs. Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) is the new man in her life with years of raiding Spanish gold. Spain is preparing to invade with its Armada, and Elizabeth is threatened by hidden dangers.Cate Blanchett returns to play an older Elizabeth from her amazing turn in 'Elizabeth' (1998). She has taken on the personality of the Queen. She has the presence of royalty. The story isn't as compelling as the earlier movie. It doesn't have the same intensity. It's more about the costumes and less about the drama. The Spanish Armada could have been a great counter supplying the movie with much needed action. There is far too little of it, and most of it end up being less than exciting. Cate Blanchett is still great but the movie isn't as great as the actress.