Centurion

Cinema Release

Magnolia Films

Neil Marshall of The Descent and Dog Soldiers fame has given us a modern day Sword and Sandal classic. Filled to the brim with blood, guts and glory it nevertheless has an interesting plot, excellent acting and a good sense of humour when the need arises.

Roman centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) is at the core of a battle between the Roman and Picts around 117 CE. He is captured and brutalized by the Picts and only just escapes with his life when the Romans save him at the last minute before he is about to be killed.

He is soon sent on a new mission to march north to help wipe the Picts from the face of the Earth and destroy their leader, Gorlaconit. It all goes horribly wrong when their dangerous but beautiful tracker Etain betrays them and leads them all into a trap.

The battle is swift and brutal and only a small group of them survive among the dead, including Quintus, Bothos (David Morrissey); Thax (J.J. Feild); Brick (Liam Cunningham), who was, just about to retire; African Macros (Noel Clarke); Greek Leonidas (Dimitri Leonidas); and cook Tarak (Riz Ahmed) who originally hails from the Hindu Kush.

When they realize their general has been captured they follow the Picts in the vain hope of rescuing him. They secretly enter the camp but cannot free him in time but one of the group make a fatal error; he kills the young son of the Pictish leader. The leader declares a vendetta against them and the hunt begins led by the embodiment of wrath called Etain. As they try and find their way to the legions of Rome they come across all manner of disasters and setbacks.

The story includes lots of twists and turns including quite an unexpected ending. The film relies on solid acting, character development and mood rather than CGI and is hence a nice change from Hollywood blockbusters.

The cinematography is beautiful including amazing helicopter shots show off the exquisitely austere Scottish landscapes used to their best advantage.

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