Mongol: the Rise to Power of Genghis Khan

Anyone who thought that there was too much walking in The Lord of the Rings will certainly feel that there's too much horseriding in Mongol, particularly in the scenes set during the main character's childhood. This first half suffers from a few too many capture/escape/recapture scenes, and an arch-enemy who constantly threatens to kill the hero but somehow never quite gets round to it. However, things come into sharper focus once Temudjin reaches adulthood and the two plotlines revolving around his relationship with his fesity wife and with his bloodbrother-turned-enemy hold the attention. The battles scenes are surprisingly gory but could have happily done without the CGI shots, and the overall narrative is rather episodic, with one key setup left completely hanging to be dealt with almost as an afterthought in an end title. Possibly one of those rare occasions when a *longer* film might have been required.