Jaye (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jayes_musings) wrote2008-05-19 11:46 pm
jayes_musings) wrote2008-05-19 11:46 pm
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Movies: The Last Legion
I'd wanted to see this movie for a while, but I heard it was absolute rubbish, so I only got around to it through Netflix. Given the reviews, and the fact that I read the book it's based on a few years ago, I went in with lowered expectations.
And I was nicely surprised.
Okay, it has it's problems...the first, and maybe most blatant, being at the very start when it states it's 460 AD...when Romulus August[ul]us was deposed by Odacavar in 476 AD (kind of an important historical date, as it's the one accepted by scholars as the end of the Western Roman Empire). There's also the fact that the Goths attacked Rome and not Ravenna, which was Rome's capital by then. But I can at least see why that was changed as most audiences are familiar with Rome over Ravenna.
The basic story is that after Rome is sacked, Odacavar takes the young, deposed emperor Romulus hostage after killing his father (Orestes, former secretary to Attila) and his mother. He exiles the boy, and his tutor Ambrosinius (Ben Kingsley) to the island of Capri. The last of the Imperial Guard, Aurelius (Colin Firth), having been betrayed by the Senate, sets out with the remnants of his legion, and an assassin from the Eastern Empire to save rescue the boy. Of course, the assassin is in fact a beautiful, exotic woman who can kick ass. The rescue successful, and without a friend in Rome, they head to Ambrosinius' homeland, Britannia to find the last remaining legion. However, while in Capri, Romulus finds Julius Caesar's legendary sword, forged when he conquered Britain, and who ever could hold it would rule the land. On reaching Britannia, they find the land ravaged by an evil warlord, and they are also chased by Wulfila, one of Odacavar's men. With the help of the lost last legion, they defeat both enemies, and a new legend is begun....that of Arthur and Excalibur.
The action was good, and they kept as much to the book as most other book-to-movie films do, although I wish they had spent more time on the characters actual travels from Ravenna (or Rome in this case) to Capri, and from Capri to Britannia...as in the novel they are sizable chunks of the book and take them months with many dangers. Here it seems to have just taken a few days. There was really no reason for the beautiful assassin, and the love story between her and Aurelius seemed to come from nowhere, even though it was predictable. There is precious little in the way of character development on any of the characters, and so their motivations are muddled and vague. True, there was not a whole lot in the book, but they did give some more depth to Ambrosinius at least.
Given the amount of top-class British actors, including Kingsley, Firth, John Hannah, Owen Teale, the acting could have been better, but it's clear none of them were doing it with Academy Awards in mind. Yet again Kevin McKidd ("Rome"'s Vorenus) makes an appearance as Wulfila and practically chews the scenery. The actress who played the assassin, Aishwarya Rai, I'm actually hoping to see in better things, as she's in a couple of Bollywood films with Hrithik. And I couldn't shake the image of the boy being in Doctor Who, rather than as Romulus.
Yes, it has many faults (as does the book, really), but as long as you're not going into it expecting historical accuracy or great acting or writing, then it's quite enjoyable.
And I was nicely surprised.
Okay, it has it's problems...the first, and maybe most blatant, being at the very start when it states it's 460 AD...when Romulus August[ul]us was deposed by Odacavar in 476 AD (kind of an important historical date, as it's the one accepted by scholars as the end of the Western Roman Empire). There's also the fact that the Goths attacked Rome and not Ravenna, which was Rome's capital by then. But I can at least see why that was changed as most audiences are familiar with Rome over Ravenna.
The basic story is that after Rome is sacked, Odacavar takes the young, deposed emperor Romulus hostage after killing his father (Orestes, former secretary to Attila) and his mother. He exiles the boy, and his tutor Ambrosinius (Ben Kingsley) to the island of Capri. The last of the Imperial Guard, Aurelius (Colin Firth), having been betrayed by the Senate, sets out with the remnants of his legion, and an assassin from the Eastern Empire to save rescue the boy. Of course, the assassin is in fact a beautiful, exotic woman who can kick ass. The rescue successful, and without a friend in Rome, they head to Ambrosinius' homeland, Britannia to find the last remaining legion. However, while in Capri, Romulus finds Julius Caesar's legendary sword, forged when he conquered Britain, and who ever could hold it would rule the land. On reaching Britannia, they find the land ravaged by an evil warlord, and they are also chased by Wulfila, one of Odacavar's men. With the help of the lost last legion, they defeat both enemies, and a new legend is begun....that of Arthur and Excalibur.
The action was good, and they kept as much to the book as most other book-to-movie films do, although I wish they had spent more time on the characters actual travels from Ravenna (or Rome in this case) to Capri, and from Capri to Britannia...as in the novel they are sizable chunks of the book and take them months with many dangers. Here it seems to have just taken a few days. There was really no reason for the beautiful assassin, and the love story between her and Aurelius seemed to come from nowhere, even though it was predictable. There is precious little in the way of character development on any of the characters, and so their motivations are muddled and vague. True, there was not a whole lot in the book, but they did give some more depth to Ambrosinius at least.
Given the amount of top-class British actors, including Kingsley, Firth, John Hannah, Owen Teale, the acting could have been better, but it's clear none of them were doing it with Academy Awards in mind. Yet again Kevin McKidd ("Rome"'s Vorenus) makes an appearance as Wulfila and practically chews the scenery. The actress who played the assassin, Aishwarya Rai, I'm actually hoping to see in better things, as she's in a couple of Bollywood films with Hrithik. And I couldn't shake the image of the boy being in Doctor Who, rather than as Romulus.
Yes, it has many faults (as does the book, really), but as long as you're not going into it expecting historical accuracy or great acting or writing, then it's quite enjoyable.
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My hubby doesn't either, but he likes some things I don't so we count it even. *BG* Besides, Dhoom: 2 gave him a lady to add to his celeb list...Bipasha Basu.