A good old fashioned sword-and-sandal epic. To avenge his father’s death, Marcus (Channing Tatum), a second-century Roman centurion, travels deep into the dangerous territory of North Britain (beyond Hadrian’s Wall) in search of his father’s missing legion, and their emblem, a golden eagle. Guiding him along is his very faithful and eloquent British slave Esca (Jamie Bell), who won his respect after refusing to fight in a gladiator match. Along the way, they are captured by a tribe of Britons, to whom the eagle also means something: a symbol of victory against their Roman oppressors.
Roles are suddenly reversed when Marcus finds himself among the most despised of slaves. Will he rescue the eagle and restore his father’s good name? This is a beautifully shot film (all authentic European locations, no green screen here), although sometime it feels like much of the movie is spent wandering, or being stalked. Of course there’s also plenty of spectacular battle sequences. Immediately we are treated to a battle in the trenches with a bladed chariot. All the familiar Hollywood aspects of Ancient Rome are here: centurions, slaves, catapults, togas, gladiator battles (complete with thumbs up for life, thumbs down for death), are here, and for the most part the movie is faithful to historic events.
Unlike most Roman epics, however, the Romans all speak with American (not English) accents (a director’s decision to make a political point), and the Britons speak Ancient Celtic. History buffs will find much to enjoy as well.
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