Why critics are destroying 'Ben-Hur,' which looks like the box-office disaster of the summer

With the biggest summer releases behind us, we're in that strange time in the movie year until thefall releasesvying harder for awards come out.So that brings us to the release of "Ben-Hur" this weekend, the last real attempt at a blockbuster this summer.It's the latest retelling of the classic Lew Wallace novel best known from the 1959 Oscar-winning film version starring Charlton Heston.The Heston version will remain the one to watch, at least according to critics who have seen the new "Ben-Hur." It currently has only a 29% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.The $100 million-budget Paramount release is projected to make no more than$15 million its opening weekend a dismal return on what the studio put in, though it's still hoping religious viewers boost box-office numbers.We've seen the movie, and though ithas extremely strong action sequences, its two-hour running time leads to an epic with little story. It's inevitably forgettable.Below arethe major problems critics have with the movie.SEE ALSO:26 movies you have to see this fallIt has a bland TV movie feel.One of the big parts of the "Ben-Hur" story is the relationship between Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) and his Roman adoptive brother, Messala Severus (Toby Kebbell). Though this version delves deep into their love for one another that turns to hate, it doesn't have the cinematic feel of the Heston version.Variety calls it "an epic that feels like a miniseries served up in bits and pieces." It's waaaaay too long.Paramount certainly gave us an epic, with a two-hour running time. But the movie doesn'tdeliver on making those two hours enjoyable."Director Timur Bekmambetov ('Wanted,' 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter') hasn't a clue how to stage a normal dramatic scene in which emotions gradually build and nuances shade characterization,"The Hollywood Reportersaid.The Jesus subplot is very heavy-handed.Though the story of "Ben-Hur" is set during the life of Jesus, the latest version of the movie decided to delve deeper into that more than any of the other movie adaptations. This "Ben-Hur" has the strongest religious slant of them all, and was produced by Mark Burnett, who also worked on "Son of God."But the shift to Jesus in the third act is so out of place you forget what the story's focus is."To pull that off in an affecting way requires more than the dramatic ploy of Jesus popping up to offer teachings about peace and coexistence,"AM New Yorksaid."Every time the Brazilian heartthrob Rodrigo Santoro appears as Jesus and quietly recites verses from the New Testament, its as if hes wandered in from another movie. And not a good movie," The Chicago Sun-Timeswrote.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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