In the midst of it all is the love story of the two title characters. One orphaned by an Irish attack who grows to be a warrior and leader, the other a princess who longs to find true love. Wow, sounds really, really epic. And the movie does aspire for that. However, it falls terribly short. Sure, the production design is there, and the costumes are fine (except that you can’t tell who’s who when the fighting goes on since the combatants are dressed very similarly) but it’s in the story and its presentation that it should become an epic.

Since it’s based on Celtic legend, the filmmakers assume that the love story is timeless. And, yes, while the telling of love stories is a timeless thing, the problem is that each love story told is not necessarily so. You don’t have to make a list of all the bad romantic comedies and dramas released every year to know that. But, still, the movie assumes that we will be involved.

That’s where it falters. There’s got to be something new, something great about the story we’re being told to keep us drawn into it, especially if it tries to present itself as having epic proportions. And the tagline, "Before Romeo & Juliet there was Tristan & Isolde" doesn’t do anything to help their case. The minute you measure yourself up to one of the best-known tragedies of all time, you conjure unbelievably high expectations.

What we have merits little more than a reaction of, "Oh you crazy kids, come on now." Unfair to compare it to Romeo and Juliet, but, hey, they brought it upon themselves. At least that classic play had motivation. And some great lines.

Isolde here falls in love with Tristan after he washes up on shore. There isn’t really much choice for her since the only other guy who shows interest in her in Ireland is this big oaf general. So she has Florence Nightingale syndrome, and she and Tristan start spewing out clichéd lines of love all throughout the movie.

The main complication of her being betrothed to the man who saved Tristan’s life comes very late into the film, and it never feels as important as it should. Needless to say, the movie suffers from bad pacing. It never really takes off, and it drags its feet throughout, hoping that the cheesy dialogue and hints of political intrigue and betrayal will string us along.

That can’t happen. It’s because we’ve seen this story before, told in a grander manner. Sure, there’s the already too many times mentioned in this review R & J, but there’s also the story of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, and a whole slew of other true and fictional forbidden loves that can come to mind. Falling in the realm of history isn’t enough to make it interesting.

There are some lengthy combat sequences, but even these come across as lacking after having seen amazing large-scale battles in the likes of LOTR or Gladiator. The tournament where Tristan wins Isolde on behalf of his lord barely even makes an impact since we’ve seen it before anyway.

The movie could have benefited from explorations of what the characters were going through, examinations of their struggles. Instead it has James Franco walking around half the time as if he were about burst into tears. It is a movie, after all, about characters who must deal with love and life.

So many themes are introduced in the film. Of course there’s love, but also duty, honor, nationhood, loyalty. These are great concepts to explore, especially when they all clash. But, for some reason, the movie doesn’t bother to.

What we have here is a humdrum movie that relies on its source material to pull it through. It drags on and on, and like the couple it concerns itself with, Tristan & Isolde just can’t seem to figure things out until it’s all too late.