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Centurion (2010)

Dir: Neil Marshall

Britain, AD 117.
The might of the Roman Empire has conquered half the world, but in the small northern region of ancient Britain the guerrilla tactics of the savage Picts has stopped this conquest dead in its tracks.

Captured by the Picts during a raid on his outpost Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender, “Inglorious Basterds“) literally runs into salvation when he crosses paths with the mighty ’9th Legion’, led by the legendary General Titus Virilus (Dominic West, TV‘s “The Wire“), who have orders to wipe out the Pictish menace once and for all by destroying their fabled leader Gorlacon (Ulrich Thomsen).

The legion’s Pictish scout into enemy territory is the mute and mysterious Etain (Olga Kurylenko, “Quantum of Solace“) and when the legion is led into a fatal ambush, and Virilus himself captured, it seems they may have been betrayed and now it is up to Quintus Dias and a handful of survivors to try and not only rescue their General, but rescue the mission and make it back to Roman lines…..

 

Using the mythical legend of 'the lost legion' this is Neil Marshall's fictional vision of what may have happened to the fabled '9th Legion', a tale that has been buried and unearthed again for centuries by historians.

What initially grabs you is the surprising scale and vast detail of Marshall's movie, given it’s generally low budget National Lottery/'UK Film Council’ (soon to be defunct) funding status, as a mass of extras (their numbers bolstered by some well done CGI) fill the screen
They are also all kitted out in great and authentic looking costumes and surrounded by bags of period detail. This is as good as anything seen in the opening passages of "Gladiator".

The numerous battles and skirmishes are generally well staged and crafted and look suitably bruising and through some top notch practical effects and sometimes rather dubious/sometimes effective CGI Marshall drenches the screen in full-on gory violence as almost every sword stroke produces a welter of blood.
We also have much head abuse as they are sliced in two, hacked off and splattered into tree trunks.
Other body parts are not immune from the carnage either as necks, arms and legs are sliced and faces are gloriously pummelled and skewered.
To put it bluntly…the film delivers all you could want from a Neil Marshall blood ’n’ thunder war/action film and bizarre internet criticisms about it not being bloody and gory enough be damned.

About half way through though it seems the real lack of budget perhaps dictates storyline as the massed ranks and blood drenched armies are literally sliced down to 7 Romans and a handful of vengeful Picts as “Centurion” now becomes a rather familiar 'behind enemy lines' chase film that borrows liberally from "Southern Comfort", "Cross of Iron" and " The Last of the Mohicans" to propel its storyline.

Shot on location in the wilds of Scotland the scenery, and the superb Sam McCurdy cinematography which captures it, is the only thing that gives this last half any kind of epic feel as obviously the budget had been spent in the first half.
Hence we have much running, arguing and hiding to pad out the running time which does drag on for a bit and brings the film down a notch from the lofty heights of the superb first half.
But there is still the solid cast, the great landscape and that ever present bloody and gory violence to keep things entertaining even if it’s now rather low key.

The aforementioned cast all do well and are obviously relishing their meaty, manly, historical warfare roles.
Dominic West in particular is wonderfully scenery chewing and effectively theatrical as the fabled General, Michael Fassbender (again losing his Irish accent perfectly) is surprisingly ripped and likeable enough as the lead.
Kudos too to the striking Olga Kurylenko as the ruthless she-wolf Etain who looks amazing (but manages to look just authentic enough to convince as a driven warrior) and handles the action as good as anyone.

Both Liam Cunningham and David Morrissey particular shine in support roles as members of the legion’s group of survivors as well.
Marshall adds in some rather clumsy, but still valid from a narrative stand-point, old school romance with a late in the day appearance by Imogen Poots (“28 Weeks Later”) who gives a good performance and her character also adds some interesting backstory to the lives and attitudes of the Picts, in a film that is already effectively swathed in grey areas as far as who may be a hero or villain in this tragic tale.

Sadly “Centurion” seems to have had the least UK theatrical success and general distribution of any of Marshall's films and this is honestly unfair despite some of the above criticisms.
It's a vast improvement on "Doomsday" (which started very well but fell apart completely in the last 3rd thanks to a flabby and unfocused script) and the first half is certainly as good as "Dog Soldiers" and "The Descent" as far as delivering full-blooded, well crafted, entertainment and once again Marshall shows he knows how to handle macho characters, even if some of that machismo is female in origin!
True the last half may falter and hug too many movie clichés and moments from other films and becomes very small scale compared to what it followed, but none of this is to a lethal degree and overall “Centurion” delivers what it promises and ends up as a bloodthirsty, well made, superb looking historical mud 'n' blood fest with a nice mix of history and myth.