Mongol

By: Martyn Pedler
Date: 18th Jun 08
Format: Cinema
Mood: Epic

WHAT
MONGOL

WHEN
OPENS JUNE 19

WHERE
DENDY CINEMAS
PALACE CINEMAS

WATCH THE TRAILER
HERE

WIN
ONE OF TEN DOUBLE PASSES, JUST EMAIL WIN@TWOTHOUSAND.COM.AU WITH THE SUBJECT 'I'M GENGHIS KHAN'S ANCESTOR'. SUBSCRIBER ENTRY ONLY

Picture the screenwriters: they're brainstorming up the new Genghis Khan biopic and need some way to make the infamous 13th century Mongolian conqueror likeable for modern audiences. Witty catchphrase? Cute animal sidekick? What about Genghis Khan: Family Man?

Don't worry. There's still enough swordplay, revenge, battlefield tactics and bright-red blood here to warm the hearts of anyone who spent hours drawing complicated battle scenes in the backs of their schoolbooks. And the widescreen landscapes - carved by wind and rain, not CGI nerds - are truly epic.

(A classy side-effect of MONGOL's Russian production is that it's actually spoken in Mongolian; something that, failing some Mel Gibson-style craziness, Hollywood would never allow.)

Despite some odd pacing, it's an engaging enough attempt at a ‘Genghis Begins' origin story. When your hero is someone who raped his way across half the world - and has an estimated 16 million descendants today - it's tricky to accept him as a sensitive, one-true-love warrior. As Part One in an already-conceived trilogy, though, the most interesting material in MONGOL is still to come.