Review of Ironclad (2011) by Carole S — 07 Apr 2014

Okay...I'll be honest....the main reason why I wanted to watch this was because of James Purefoy and Paul Giamatti. Love them!

Besides for the actors and the awesome fight scenes this...well...disappointed me. It was extremely historically inaccurate and there was a huge lack of dialogue and depth. Pretty much the actors are the only ones who saved the film. Especially James Purefoy who played the Knight Templar, Thomas Marshal. Thomas Marshal is made up (I looked) and was based off of the famous William Marshal. Poor Thomas. He lost everything in one day thanks to good ol' King John. He snapped and decided enough was enough, so he teamed up with Baron d'Aubigny. They take over a different Baron's castle and hold up against King John and his Danish army until the French arrive.

Throughout all this there is blood and love. Yes....there is a love story between Thomas and Lady Isabel (the castle's baron's wife. Tsk). It was forced and just didn't make sense. o.o She pretty much raped him, because he refused and said he was a man of God and had given up normal life to fight for God. She was like, "NO WAY JOSE! THE ORDER IS DONE, SO LET'S GET IT ON!" And he responded, "NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOO!.......OKAY. Just this once though!" Tsk, tsk. I feel like they forced this romance to add more depth to the story, but it failed. Plus it didn't help that they made her look slutty.

Is there and HEA? That I can not tell you....but the ending will make you shake your head. I loved the last fight between the head of the Danish army and Thomas. Awesome and had me worried for Thomas. There were lots of sad heroics, but then...something happened and it made me mad. I can not say, but alas, that's not how it should have ended.

There's not much else to say.

This was okay and I enjoyed it well enough. It was an interesting take on a historical event that happened during the time of King John and the magna carta. The amazing fight scenes and actors are the only reason to watch this film. If it wasn't for them...this would have been crap. I wish that they would have cut out the romance between Lady Isabel and Thomas (because it would never had happened). Also, the ending made me shake my head. I loved the last epic fight scene and the heroics...but the last 5 minutes was not okay. I would recommend this to those that like James Purefoy and for those that love a good war movie. Out of five stars I will grant this...ummmmm.... 2 stars.

Favorite Character(s): Thomas, King John (just because of the actor and how will he played him), Daniel Marks (hahaha), and the Squire.

Not-so Favorite Character(s): Lady Isabel.