Review of Ironclad (2011) by Magnus X — 12 Jul 2012

"Ironclad" starts with King John(Paul Giamatti) signing the Magna Carta in 1215 at the behest of the country's barons. And everybody lived happily ever after...

...except they didn't. Intending to restore his full kingly powers, John recruits Tiberius(Vladimir Kulich), a Danish missionary, and his crew for a militaty campaign which Marshal(James Purefoy), a former Knights Templar, barely escapes from with his life. Marshal then joins up with Baron Albany(Brian Cox) whose only hope to fight King John may be to hold the fortress at Rochester with a handful of men until the French show up. Archbishop Langton(Charles Dance), one step from excommunication himself, does not approve of the plan since the Church frowns on suicide.

"Ironclad" benefits from a fine cast, of which Charles Dance fares best with Paul Giamatti an entertaining second. And the blood, grit and mud lend the movie a good deal of verisimilitude. But as plausible as the movie is historically, it is not staged that convincingly, especially in the department of so few holding off so many. That's not to mention the gaping black hole where a leading character should be. As deep as the movie can be in exploring some important issues, there is a time for introspection and the middle of a siege is not one for a soldier fighting bravely for the first stirrings of participatory democracy.