Yes this is yet another one of those Gladiator kind movies. But this time in Anno Domini. 140 AD to be precise. Around the time when the Roman conquest had reached the northern part of Britain. Marcus Aquilla (Channing Tatum) asks to be posted as a commander in Britain much to the surprise of the legion. Rome’s conquest of Britain is not going too well with the spirited Northerners pushing the Romans back. This led to the creation of what we know today as the Hadrian’s Wall which runs right through the centre of Great Britain. In times like these, it is indeed surprising to see a young man who could have been posted anywhere to specifically ask for Britain. The previous commander doesn’t even wait to be formally relieved by Marcus and takes off. Marcus, however is quick to earn the respect of his soldiers when he commands an ambush on a local tribe that is after Roman blood. The respect for Marcus only increases manifold when during a second fight, he shows exemplary valour in standing up and facing near certain death.
It is only around this time that it becomes a bit clear as to what is his driving force of moving to Britain. His father was the commander of the ninth when the legion’s golden emblem was taken away in an ambush. His father lost his life in the bargain and could not save The Eagle. Now there are way too many old mother’s tales doing their rounds about what exactly happened and Marcus wants to know the truth and put an end to all the speculation. His plans are set back significantly thanks to a very bad leg – remember he stood up and faced death. He loses consciousness and almost his leg. We he does come around, he finds himself at his Uncle’s (Donald Sutherland) place somewhere in Britain. During his recovery, he saves a local boy from being killed in a regular fight against a gladiator. Esca (Jamie Bell) becomes his slave in return for saving his life. Things come to head when a couple of politicians come to visit his uncle and talk loosely about his father and how the loss of The Eagle was an insult to Rome. Having said that, they are still not willing to do anything about it. Marcus decides to take matters into his own hands and crippled leg and takes off with Esca to find The Eagle.
The Eagle exposes director Kevin MacDonald’s inability to produce a solid movie like his previous attempts in the absence of a good cast. For that matter, any director with a cast like this one would have struggled to give a decent end product. In that context, I tip my hat to Kevin Saar. Although the movie tends to be a drab in parts and MacDonald fails to hold your attention throughout, the end product would have been much worse with someone else if I were to hazard a guess. The sheer incompetence of Channing Tatum to emote on screen is not only very obvious but also gets onto your nerves after a point in time. And Jamie Bell doesn’t help too much either. What stands out is that in a movie like this – all Gladiator – Spartacus type is the absence of a woman and therefore thankfully the movie doesn’t drop to being soppy. One of the few saving graces. Needless to say, I don’t have anything against actresses and all of you would be very familiar with my stance on the fairer sex. Its just that I have always strived to find a reason to have an actress and unnecessarily up the romance / glamour quotient in a movie about the Roman Legion. On that hopefully “not perceived as sexist” note, I give this movie a 5 on 10. Kevin MacDonald – better luck next time with the casting.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2014091801/
It is only around this time that it becomes a bit clear as to what is his driving force of moving to Britain. His father was the commander of the ninth when the legion’s golden emblem was taken away in an ambush. His father lost his life in the bargain and could not save The Eagle. Now there are way too many old mother’s tales doing their rounds about what exactly happened and Marcus wants to know the truth and put an end to all the speculation. His plans are set back significantly thanks to a very bad leg – remember he stood up and faced death. He loses consciousness and almost his leg. We he does come around, he finds himself at his Uncle’s (Donald Sutherland) place somewhere in Britain. During his recovery, he saves a local boy from being killed in a regular fight against a gladiator. Esca (Jamie Bell) becomes his slave in return for saving his life. Things come to head when a couple of politicians come to visit his uncle and talk loosely about his father and how the loss of The Eagle was an insult to Rome. Having said that, they are still not willing to do anything about it. Marcus decides to take matters into his own hands and crippled leg and takes off with Esca to find The Eagle.
The Eagle exposes director Kevin MacDonald’s inability to produce a solid movie like his previous attempts in the absence of a good cast. For that matter, any director with a cast like this one would have struggled to give a decent end product. In that context, I tip my hat to Kevin Saar. Although the movie tends to be a drab in parts and MacDonald fails to hold your attention throughout, the end product would have been much worse with someone else if I were to hazard a guess. The sheer incompetence of Channing Tatum to emote on screen is not only very obvious but also gets onto your nerves after a point in time. And Jamie Bell doesn’t help too much either. What stands out is that in a movie like this – all Gladiator – Spartacus type is the absence of a woman and therefore thankfully the movie doesn’t drop to being soppy. One of the few saving graces. Needless to say, I don’t have anything against actresses and all of you would be very familiar with my stance on the fairer sex. Its just that I have always strived to find a reason to have an actress and unnecessarily up the romance / glamour quotient in a movie about the Roman Legion. On that hopefully “not perceived as sexist” note, I give this movie a 5 on 10. Kevin MacDonald – better luck next time with the casting.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2014091801/
No comments:
Post a Comment