Anyone that marveled at the dark harshness of Jonathan auf der Heide’s ‘Van Dieman’s Land’ will certainly be enthralled by ‘Centurion’ – a film that’s dark filming style manages to capture its mood in a way that really looks impressive on the big screen. Sure there are some historically inaccurate things in the film – but hey if you’re dumb enough to base a history assignment on a film then you are simply asking for trouble. The great thing about ‘Centurion’ is its not just a poor man’s ‘Gladiator’, it actually takes a look at the Roman’s invasion of Britain… question is how many people knew that actually happened?
When a Roman frontier fort is attacked by the vicious Picts – led by Gorlacon (Ulrich Thomsen – ‘Tell Tale’, ‘Duplicity’) and the brutal Etain (Olga Kurylenko – ‘The Assassin Next Door’, ‘East Of Me’) the only soldier left is Centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender – ‘Inglorious Basterds’, ‘Fish Tank’). He quickly teams up when the Ninth Legion who the Picts then attack and take General Virilus (Dominic West – ‘From Time To Time’, TV’S ‘The Devil’s Whore’) captive. Quintus pulls together the survivors and leads them on a journey to rescue their leader.
Director, Neil Marshall (‘Doomsday’, ‘The Descent’) does a great job bringing a foreboding feel to this film, and does an even better job in making the visuals appear so realistic despite a serious amount of bloodthirsty brutality, but he is also let down by his script in which he has made some vital filmmaking mistakes. The biggest being the late introduction of a romantic interest in the form of Arian (Imogen Poots – ‘Solitary Man’, ‘Cracks’). Sure Marshall needed someone to aid Quintus’s group but the idea that he falls in love with Arian means for the last act of the film it delves into the soapie-sappy style of Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Australia’. Disappointing considering the film moves along so well the rest of the time.
Michael Fassbender is surprisingly good in the role of an action hero, perhaps the creators of ‘Clash Of The Titans’ could have taken notice because Fassbender doesn’t ever forget that while he has to be good with a sword he also has to have good enough acting skills to pull off some of the more dramatic scenes. And he is well backed up by a stellar cast; even the sexy Olga Kurylenko is given a role that has great character definition… a dream role for an actress.
‘Centurion’ looks amazing and manages not to fall down to the level of most action films and while Marshall’s script holds up for the most part its historical inaccuracies are what prevents this from becoming a truly great film. Brutal and harsh, an enjoyable watch, just don’t use it as a historical reference.
Year: 201o
Director: Neil Marshall
Stars: Ulrich Thomsen, Olga Kurylenko, Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, Imogen Poots
Classification: MA
Runtime: 97 mins
Rating: 