2016 Ben Hur goes to see Messala- who's had one of his legs amputated at the knee- and... all is forgiven. Just like that, they're best buds again. Not only that, but rejuvenated Tirzah and Messala appear to rekindle the old flame as well. Apparently absence- and a little incarceration and leprosy courtesy of your beau- makes the heart grow fonder, or something. Of all the disastrous plot changes this film made to Ben Hur, rewriting the last act to be the exact opposite of what actually happened and giving it a sappy Hallmark movie ending was the absolute worst.
The fact is, neither the plot nor the characters in this movie are compelling or even remotely believable. A bad film (which this is) can be, if not redeemed, then at least improved by the presence of strong, gripping performances. The relative success or failure of Ben Hur 2016 was always going to be determined by the characters of its two antagonists- Ben Hur and Messala. And sadly, neither of them is up to the task. In my fourth and final part of this review, I'll examine why.