Review of Centurion (2010) by Lewis C — 09 Jan 2011

"Now she hunts Romans. Now we are the prey.".

Centurion isn't a historical epic, it's a historical action flick. You won't get the grandeur and scope of a movie like Gladiator, but if you're looking for some violence and would like to substitute swords and arrows for shotguns and Uzis, then you could do a lot worse.

Michael Fassbender and Olga Kurylenko star on opposite sides of this movie. Fassbender is a Roman centurion in Britain who has been among the only survivors of two attacks by the warring Picts on his fellow soldiers. Kurylenko is a mute Pictish woman working with the Romans, who turns out to be more than she seems. Both of the stars prove credible in their action scenes, which are the main showpieces of the movie.

The battles are what you'd expect from (director) Neil Marshall - visceral, brutal, and with copious amounts of blood. They occur frequently, and they never fail to have a high body count. If you're at all familiar with the story/legend of the Ninth Legion (which Centurion was adapted from), then you know not to expect many of the main characters to survive. You also probably know that there really aren't any true "good guys". The Romans are fighting to control the territory they've conquered, and the Picts are fighting for revenge and freedom. Both sides do some terrible things, but the Romans are presented as our main characters here, and therefore, our protagonists.

This is a much more simple and conventional movie than Marshall's other work like The Descent and Doomsday, and it's probably his most mainstream flick, as well. But, there's nothing wrong with a straight-forward action movie if it's entertaining. I probably won't rush to own Centurion or see it again, but it was certainly worth seeing once. Fans of Imogen Poots will definitely want to check this out, as she has a nice (if somewhat brief) role.