Release: 29th of July

Length: 94 minutes

Rating: MA 15+ (Strong bloody violence)

Having lived in Newcastle, Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, Doomsday) had long been fascinated by the Roman occupation of England in early AD. From this interest comes the legend of the Ninth Legion, who marched north into Scotland and vanished without a trace. This unsolved historical myth became the basis of his lastest film Centurion.

We follow the story of that British guy from Inglorious Basterds (Michael Fassbender) who has escaped the northern English tribes people called Picts. Luckily he is saved by the Ninth Legion, which is lead by McNulty from TV’s The Wire (Dominic West). The Ninth has been ordered by Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark (Paul Freeman) to head north to destroy the Picts by any means necessary. However, as Admiral Ackbar once so eloquently stated, "It's a trap!" and the Ninth Legion get their arses whipped, Celtic style. 

Fassbender leads a small team of survivors to save McNulty, but then have to save their own bottoms from that chick in Quantum of Solace (Olga Kurylenko) and make it south of Hadrian’s wall before she hunts them down, Celtic style.

This film is a mixture of 300, Gladiator and Apocalypto. It has the gore of 300, the real locations and elements or Galdiator and the survival story of Apocalypto. All in all, probably not aimed at getting the ladies into the cinema, or into your pants afterwards. However if you are looking for a good ole’ fashioned period splatter-fest with Romans getting their faces cut in half, this film will both delight and amuse you.

And just to make sure there are no misunderstandings about what you can expect in this movie, the first on-screen death we see is a guy getting stabbed right in the plums. 

The fight scenes in Centurion are gritty and gory but can sometimes devolve into that shaky camera feel that seems to have become standard for battle sequences. With regards to the gore, it tries to stay within a reasonable level (i.e. not like the super soaker blood from 300) but at times can seem a little unrealistic. The storyline itself is pretty simple and is a good vehicle for this exciting action-adventure chase movie. The dialogue can seem pretty standard at times but the mix of Gaelic and English help detract from the clunkiness. There is a love story slightly laced within the last half of the movie that seems a little forced but at that point you’re not expecting much it to be anything special and it serves its purpose well enough. 

Dominic West plays McNulty without the American accent and Olga Kurylenko plays Camille from Quantum without an accent at all - her character has no tongue. Fassbender does a good job playing the righteous Centurion Quintus Dias, but I was disappointed that Paul Freeman’s head didn’t explode at the end. 

All in all this movie holds up as a bloody, fast paced action film. I wouldn’t go into the cinema expecting to see the next Gladiator and I’m glad this film doesn’t try to be. It accomplishes what it sets out to do. Celtic style.

Distinction

Ryland Summers