Centurion

I never thought about it before, and actually this movie helped me to understand something. When you go to see a movie you want to have some satisfaction, and mostly you get it when you sympathize with the hero, you get emotionally involved in their problems and you worry about them.

Here, you have two sides and I personally can not empathize with any of them.

The Picts, while they have a right to protect their land and families, are shown in quite cruel way and Olga Kirylenko's character is far from being attractive.

On the other side the Centurion and his soldiers are nothing but invaders killing and enslaving the locals just for the sake of glory of the Roman Empire. All in all, it's fair for them to be killed by the people they are oppressing and I can't really worry about the Centurion trying to survive because I feel more like he deserves to die for what he's done. If you are a professional soldier and came to a foreign land to ravage it... well, you get what you get.

This movie looks like a historical documentary, which shows you some facts and reasons/motives of both sides to do what they do or have to.

It's done fairly well, but for me it defeats the main purpose of movie - it's not entertaining. There is no point of attraction in it, there is no one to feel for, and I expect quite the opposite when I'm paying for the ticket.

I recently picked this movie up cheap after watching the Spartacus TV show. I guess i am going through a Roman phase! This movie although not what i was expecting was actually very good.

If you are expecting large scale battles then look elsewhere as ultimately this becomes a chase movie as a small band of surviving Romans are being chased across Scotland by the savage Pict led by Olga Kurylenko.

Kurylenko is fantastic in this, frightening without saying a word. Fassbender is ok, seeming to grow into the role as the movie progresses. He is supported by a band of mainly British actors including David Morrissey. Dominic West steals every scene he is in, in an all too brief appearance.

I was pleasantly surprised with this movie and it just goes to show you don't have to have a huge budget or mammoth running time to create a good movie.

Centurion is directed by Neil Marshall who also wrote the screenplay. It stars Dominic West, Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko, Liam Cunningham, Noel Clarke, Riz Ahmed & Imogen Poots.

Britain, 117 AD and the Romans are struggling to contain the Picts in Caledonia. The Roman Governor sends in their best army, the Ninth Legion. But they are victims of a trap and are forced to flee on foot across the mountainous terrain with the vengeful Picts in hot pursuit. Can they stay alive and make it to the border?

One thing you know you are going to get with a Neil Marshall film is blood and guts. Be it squadies facing off against werewolves, pot-holing babes grappling with hungry Gollum types, or a secret unit sent in to quarantined Scotland to fend off cannibal punk rockers; Marshall likes to pile on the grue. With his latest, Centurion, he continues in this vein. Sadly that's about all there is as the talented director appears to be getting a little carried away with himself and forgetting to put some substance into his characters. What promises to be a telling historical epic anti-war movie ends up being one long chase movie. Only pausing for breath for intermittent blood letting and the now obligatory love interest sub-plot. Oh it's fun, very much so, and the visuals coupled with the excellently constructed fight sequences don't waste a penny spent. But as a whole it just doesn't work, it's more a collection of set pieces linked together by visceral pleasures under the guise of being a take on a folklore story.

However, there is no denying the commitment to the genre from Marshall. Centurion is often thrilling and brutal into the bargain, so as long as you don't require any semblance of depth then it will surely entertain you. While he has assembled a very admirable cast of British & Irish thesps and put them thru a very tough shoot up in the Scottish hills. The craft is there, from director and stars, just no decent script to flesh it out. Oh and do we really need Roman soldiers saying the F word to show us how hard they are? Coming after Doomsday flopped (personally I think it's a whole bunch of fun), Marshall is at the crossroads of his career. Once the indie darling of Britain he's been courted by Hollywood and needs to make big decisions. You can only homage so much in your favoured genres (here he nods to Gladiator, The Warriors and even Zulu) before it gets to be boring. So is it time to let someone else write now? Also if he must stay mainstream then he has to get the budget to do the job properly; witness the digital blood used for the first fight sequences, laughably bad and able to take you right out of the film.

At times ridiculous and over the top, Centurion only works well as a pure action flick. Which of course will find an audience. But director and cast are better than this, as an effective story is bogged down by lack of narrative heart that in turn is most likely hidden by arterial blood. Lots of it. 5/10

A group of Roman soldiers who survived an ambush are chased relentlessly by a hunting party of Picts. As with every other movie by Neil Marshall (The Descent, Doomsday) this big screen epic attempts to mix the grittiness of European filmmaking with the entertainment values of Hollywood movie-making. And as is becoming signature with this director, Centurion pursues his tradition to feature very strong and memorable female characters.

While it is Centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) who is the protagonist as the somewhat reluctant leader of our heroes, the most memorable character on screen is Etain, a Brigantian tracker played by Olga Kurylenko. Etain's tribe was massacred by the Romans and she took refuge with the Picts. Her backstory is a powerful device that explains all the hatred she has for Romans and the length she will go to exact revenge. Neil Marshall makes great use of actress Kurylenko and she literally eats the screen in almost every scene she is in, despite her character being mute. Etain reaches iconic status as far as I'm concerned, much like Karl Vreski (Die Hard).

The actual plot, despite its historical context, is less Gladiator and more Apocalypto. Several battles are extremely gritty, entering gory territory as blood flows. There are a lot of CGI sequences mixed with traditional effects but they do not detract from the experience too much. Quintus' bunch of survivors are portrayed by a group of effective actors but the movie's short length prevents much characterization. Where Marshall is more effective is in the portrayal of the Picts. In very few words, several characters stand out throughout the movie.

Everything is fairly entertaining but the movie never quite reaches classic epic status due to its short length and several incongruities. For instance, I still don't understand why two healthy and armed soldiers would run away from wolves, nor why wolves would pursue them (that simply flies in the face of anything we know about the behavior of wolves). Etain is also ordered to severe the heads of the men she is chasing but conveniently omits certain characters so that they survive their injuries, which makes no sense and is transparent bad writing. Likewise, when the Romans have a chance to steal or kill the Picts' horses, they simply ignore this opportunity. These plot holes add up pretty fast and detract from our experience, turning what could have been a classic into just a great pop corn flick.

But an entertaining pop corn flick it is, despite its faults! I wish Marshall would be slightly less ambitious, as it seems he is at his best working on smaller scale movies but he still has a knack to shoot fun films and create engaging characters. Special kudos for not glorifying the Roman empire and especially, for not portraying the Picts as clear-cut villains. Although the structure of the film firmly puts the Picts in the "baddies" slot, there are several hints and a lot of subtext that, on the contrary, showcases the Roman empire as bloodthirsty invaders, plotting backstabbers and savages themselves.

Every amateur of sword epic will want to see this one at least once, possibly several times.

This is a well made small budget movie which gives us a fun and adventurous story with some dramatic scenery and a surprisingly strong cast.

Loosely based on the true story of the Roman missing 9th legion (try reading the following book for a very interesting account of what we know and what is speculated; 'Roman Britain's Missing Legion: What Really Happened to IX Hispana?' by Simon Elliott).

The movie gives a breathless feel with a movie length chase across the Scottish highlands. We are treated to some beautiful aerial shots and as it is set in winter, the movie feels damp and muddy, possible helped by the tones and colours used in the film stock. This dull earthy tones mixed with great costume design gives a gritty and realistic feel eschewing any imagined gloss and glamour of legionary life. The action scenes are small scale but well shot and pretty gory (plenty of heads rolling).

I was pleasantly surprised by this film since my expectations were low as I had never heard of the title until recently. It is not CGI heavy or on the scale of Gladiator, lets say, but creates a very nice story within the small world it portrays.

A nice surprise 8/10.