With Hollywood’s recent bankruptcy of creativity, studios have been going back to the well, resurrecting old successes with new sequels.

Nine years after the release of Elizabeth, a modestly successful costume drama that earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of the title character, the world has been given Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the next chapter in the life of England’s Virgin Queen.

The Golden Age is set during England’s rise to power on the world stage. The year is 1585, and Queen Elizabeth (played once again by Blanchett) is growing bored with life at court. However, a friendship with the recently arrived British privateer Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) livens things for her, much to the chagrin of her chief advisor, Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), who is concerned with the dangers she faces abroad and at home. King Philip II of Spain (Jordi Molla) seeks to reclaim England for Catholicism, while an internal Catholic conspiracy threatens to place Mary, Queen of Scotts (Samantha Morton), on the throne. When all is said and done, conspirators have been killed, the Spanish Armada has been defeated by storm clouds, and England has emerged as an empire.

Shekhar Kapur returns as director for the sequel, once again delivering a luscious visual feast. Every frame of this film is packed to the brim with extravagant costumes and gorgeous sets, the pride and joy of any period film. Whether it is Elizabeth’s confined living quarters, or the ornate, expansive rooms of a British palace, or even the darkened, church-like halls of King Philip, this film presents rich, beautiful environments that one cannot help but be captivated by.

Blanchett recreates her acclaimed performance as Elizabeth, making the great monarch a tower of strength, but also human and vulnerable. Owen brings great charm to Walter Raleigh, the only man who dares to view the queen as a human being, and a man who we truly believe Elizabeth could fall in love with. They know that they are perfect for each other, but both know that they can never be together. The excellent work of Blanchett and Owen make this relationship the heart and soul of the film.

As is the problem with many sequels, The Golden Age fails to live up to the original film. Elizabeth was a measured, intimate, carefully developed story of political intrigue. The villains here are horribly one-dimensional, with Phillip of Spain waddling about in darkness like a “Looney Toons” character, and the assassins never really convincing us that they are dangerous.

The film also suffers from trying to do too much in too short a time. As a result, every character gets screen time, but most are painted in broad strokes with little real development. For example, Geoffrey Rush, who played Walsingham brilliantly in the last film, gets a subplot involving his traitorous younger brother. It is presented and resolved in an elapsed time of five minutes, and Rush is given nothing else substantial to do. The final battle against the Spanish Armada could have been a spectacular sequence. Unfortunately, the battle is over before it even begins, playing instead like a trailer for a sea battle instead of a climactic showdown over the future of England.

Most of these problems are only noticable after nitpicking. At the end of the day, there are far worse ways you could spend two hours. Sure, Elizabeth: The Golden Age may not get nominated for any Oscars, but you will get a beautiful looking, broadly drawn, and extremely entertaining period piece.