An insipid story about a lost Roman legion that features a cardboard performance from one Channing Tatum.
- Rated PG-13 for battle sequences and some disturbing images.
- Who's going to like it: People who are looking for a complete, brainless action movie that doesn't make the slightest bit of sense.
- Who's going to like it: People who are looking for a complete, brainless action movie that doesn't make the slightest bit of sense.
Rome has been pushing up into England as far as they can for a while now. They've set up forts, built up settlements, and pushed the native people of Britain further North. Hadrian's Wall was erected as a marker where the Roman occupation ended and the "savage" wilderness began. No Roman could survive past the wall. Well, that's only the case if the Roman isn't played by Channing Tatum.
Marcus Aquila (Tatum) is a general in the Roman military. He's spent his entire life being shamed because of his father who was also a military commander of one of the most famous legions in Rome. After a war campaign up North, his father's legion was ambushed and slaughtered. Not only did they get wiped out, but they lost the eagle. The gold standard of Rome. From then on the Aquila name was disgraced.
After suffering a major injury in battle Marcus Aquila retires to his uncle's countryside estate. He has constant flashbacks of his father fighting in his last battle, and relinquishing the eagle to their enemies. During a gladiator fight Marcus ends up saving the life of a poor slave who won't fight in the ring. The slave is indebted to him.
The beginning of the film moves along at a snail's pace, with Marcus looking sullen most of the time. He's just so unhappy that his father's legacy has been tarnished. So, after thinking long and hard about it he rashly decides that he's going to go North of the wall and bring back the eagle. Alone.
He brings along his British slave, Esca (Jamie Bell), who has seen his fair share of misery. He needs Esca to navigate the unforgiving land, and to speak the native tongue to the people up North.
Why Esca helps Marcus is left completely unexplained. While he was a kid Esca faced atrocities at the hand of the Roman Empire. He hates them, yet he helps Marcus complete a mission for Rome without putting up too much of a fuss. There isn't one scene that explains his motivations or why he's suddenly become an ardent Roman hell-bent on helping kill his own people.
The Eagle is one of those movies where everything happens by convenient coincidence. Right when Marcus is about to give up he finds another piece of the puzzle, without really doing much by himself in the first place. It just so happens he stumbles into the village that has the eagle. He sees it during a ritual. He just happens to run into the man who saw his dad die, and also meets the man who killed him. It all works out too perfectly.
I've always wondered why movies about the Roman Empire use British accents for Romans, and now I know why. Hearing Romans with strong American accents is grating on the ears.
The Eagle is tedious, and lacks any sort of motivation for Esca who is the main reason Marcus ends up completing his quest. This is a shame too, because the movie is directed by Kevin Macdonald, who's a very seasoned director. He directed Life in a Day which was at Sundance. That was a superb film, one of the best films of the year. This movie seems like Macdonald and the rest of the crew were coasting along on cruise control. There's a reason why "The Eagle" is coming out at the beginning of February. It isn't any good.
Marcus Aquila (Tatum) is a general in the Roman military. He's spent his entire life being shamed because of his father who was also a military commander of one of the most famous legions in Rome. After a war campaign up North, his father's legion was ambushed and slaughtered. Not only did they get wiped out, but they lost the eagle. The gold standard of Rome. From then on the Aquila name was disgraced.
After suffering a major injury in battle Marcus Aquila retires to his uncle's countryside estate. He has constant flashbacks of his father fighting in his last battle, and relinquishing the eagle to their enemies. During a gladiator fight Marcus ends up saving the life of a poor slave who won't fight in the ring. The slave is indebted to him.
The beginning of the film moves along at a snail's pace, with Marcus looking sullen most of the time. He's just so unhappy that his father's legacy has been tarnished. So, after thinking long and hard about it he rashly decides that he's going to go North of the wall and bring back the eagle. Alone.
He brings along his British slave, Esca (Jamie Bell), who has seen his fair share of misery. He needs Esca to navigate the unforgiving land, and to speak the native tongue to the people up North.
Why Esca helps Marcus is left completely unexplained. While he was a kid Esca faced atrocities at the hand of the Roman Empire. He hates them, yet he helps Marcus complete a mission for Rome without putting up too much of a fuss. There isn't one scene that explains his motivations or why he's suddenly become an ardent Roman hell-bent on helping kill his own people.
The Eagle is one of those movies where everything happens by convenient coincidence. Right when Marcus is about to give up he finds another piece of the puzzle, without really doing much by himself in the first place. It just so happens he stumbles into the village that has the eagle. He sees it during a ritual. He just happens to run into the man who saw his dad die, and also meets the man who killed him. It all works out too perfectly.
I've always wondered why movies about the Roman Empire use British accents for Romans, and now I know why. Hearing Romans with strong American accents is grating on the ears.
The Eagle is tedious, and lacks any sort of motivation for Esca who is the main reason Marcus ends up completing his quest. This is a shame too, because the movie is directed by Kevin Macdonald, who's a very seasoned director. He directed Life in a Day which was at Sundance. That was a superb film, one of the best films of the year. This movie seems like Macdonald and the rest of the crew were coasting along on cruise control. There's a reason why "The Eagle" is coming out at the beginning of February. It isn't any good.
(2 out of 5)
| Comments
