Centurion

(2010)

Dir: Neil Marshall

 

 

“Run away!”

 

You have to hand it to Neil Marshall. He really has breathed some new life into the essentially crap British landscape. The fact that this is what I came out of the theatre thinking after seeing the director’s latest effort, his crimson-masked exploration into the ill-fated Ninth Legion’s ventures into Caledonia, isn’t a good sign.

Despite Marshall’s obvious skill at handling blood, guts and lots of rolling heads, which both the excellent Dog Soldiers and terrifying The Descent showcase, Centurion suffers from the ‘Haven’t we seen this all before?’ syndrome. It feels about a decade too late. When Ridley Scott’s Gladiator opened up the box-office doors for the Historical Epic once again, the likes of Troy, King Arthur and even Scott’s own Kingdom of Heaven neatly pulled up their robes, removes their sandals, and sauntered through.

Whilst it is not a bad thing that Centurion avoided such a splurge, it does mean that all originality has been drained from the genre like the blood of deer (watch the film). It looks like the opening scenes of Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven. Okay so far. Also a bit of King Arthur. Uh, oh dear. With a plot that is trying so hard to capture the breathless nature of such chase films as Michael Mann’s brilliant Last of the Mohicans’ and Mad Mel’s Apocalypto. Sadly, Centurion falls short of reaching the wild heights of either of these masterpieces.

It obviously lacks the Hollywood budget, but Marshall has still managed to assemble a formidable cast, including The Wire’s Dominic West, the saucy Olga Kurylenko, and one of the hottest actors around right now in Michael Fassbender.

But it still falls into the trap of old Roman clichés, becoming a foul-mouthed, overlong and not very engaging episode of HBO’s Rome. With a villain right out of the Mohicans Magua playbook failing to match the chilly weather, and an oh so convenient romance, Centurion, whilst doing a stunning job as a tourist guide for Scotland, ends up stabbing itself in the foot.

** ¾ / *****