The Charlton Heston of 2016

The new Ben Hur movie rides fast and furious.

From the writer of 12 Years A Slave, the director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and producers of, gulp, miniseries The Bible comes the third filmic spectacular adapted from 19th C best-seller Ben Hur. If unlikely to leave the same cultural sandal-print, it is surely the fastest and most furious.

Cleaving the 1959 epic's run-time in half shelves the kitschier pomposity and—curiously, given Roma Downey's involvement—limits religious backdrop to a few swoony Jesus cameos. It also distills the lightweight-but-rousing sports flick ordinarily cloaked within historical drama.

Taking the reins from Charlton Heston at his most iconic, (Walter/John/Angelica scion) Jack Huston may flounce a bit too casually midst opening scenes as the titular nobleman betrayed by his adopted brother and forced to galley slave servitude, but, upon entering the arena for climactic horse-drawn-carriage Death Race, he seems to the chariot born.

Critic's Grade: B-

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