Jeanne d'Arc

Luc Besson is a visually imaginative director of slightly superficial action-packed movies so it is not surprising that he is less successful when he attempts to include themes such as faith and doubt in his version of the fascinating story about the mythical saint Joan of Arc (1412-1431).

The first half of Joan of Arc is the better than the latter part because it is fast-paced, less predictable and has some powerful and perfectly choreographed battle scenes. The latter part suffers from the unavoidable predictability that we all know the sad fate of the saint. The film fails miserably when it tries to slow down and strike a serious note as in the downright boring scenes between Joan and her consciousness (Dustin Hoffman).