Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

While the first Elizabeth was a triumphant telling of the early days of arguably history's greatest woman, this is more like a depiction of her sophomore slump. Oh sure England had some great success during these days but the presence of the Lady herself, at least as it is presented here, is almost incidental. In short, a lot of events happen around her, but rarely if ever to her. In the process, much of the character and deeply personal nature gets left where the first film ended. What's here is mostly pleasant pageantry, regal melodrama, and the occasional bloodbath. It still looks great, it's still very well acted, but it lacks the cleverness and captivating nature of the first, instead settling on being merely interesting. The film is still decent, but after the miracle concoction of the first you can't help but feel a bit let down.

6 out of 10.