Centurion

Ultraviolent historical/epic/action yarn with breathtaking battles including lots of blood and gore . This is a nice as well as exciting production with a big budget , great sets and thundering battles during the Roman Empire . The picture deals with historical facts about confrontation between Romans and Picts . AD 117. The Roman Empire stretches from Egypt to Spain, and East as far as the Black Sea. But in northern Britain, the relentless onslaught of conquest has ground to a halt in face of the guerrilla tactics of an elusive enemy: the savage and terrifying Picts (they were generally thought to not have worn any clothes). A Roman army commanded by General Titus Flavius Virilus (Dominic West) is besieged and deadly attacked . After that , splinter group of Roman soldiers led by Centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is decimated in a devastating guerrilla attack . As they attempt to destroy their leader Gorlacon (Ulrich Thomsen) and face a desperate struggle to keep his small platoon alive .

Bloody version based on historical events with overwhelming battles and great production values starred by Michael Fassbender as the fictional Centurion , leader of a motley crew of tough , battle-hardened warriors/underdogs who try to defend themselves against a patrol of bloody Picts led by a brutal warrior woman . The movie has great action sequences well staged with stylish and vitality , thrills , a little bit of romance and is pretty entertaining . Although is a little revisionist about characters , history and time when is developed the action in a dirty , gritty Roman Empire during its period in Britain . Several action scenes are outstanding with spectacular battle images and thrilling fights . Unfortunately, on small house screens much of the splendor will be lost . As the movie makes a big deal out of the supposedly deathly rivalry between Romans and the Picts . German archaeologists have found evidence of the 9th Legion on the banks of the Rhine River and carbon-dated them long after these events took place, suggesting that rather than being wiped out, the reason that there is no evidence of the 9th Legion being in Scotland after these battles is that they moved to Germany . The working title for the film was "Ninth Legion" , the story goes that the Ninth Legion marched to Scotland from York with 3000 men and were never seen of again. Historians dispute what actually happened to them. Some believe that they were disbanded, while others believe that they were massacred .

Stunning battles scenes illuminate the full-blown feats with a plethora of engaging action set pieces on the combats in which the heads and limbs are slice off here and there . Casting is frankly excellent such as Liam Cunningham , Dominic Cooper , David Morrissey , Ulrich Thomsen , Imogen Poots and Paul Freeman and Governor Julius Agricola . Special mention to treacherous , despised role played by Olga Kurylenko as sadistic , revenger Etain . There are great action sequences including the gory battle in woods and the final confrontation at the climax of the film . Impeccable and evocative cinematography by Sam McCurdy . Filmmaker and his director of photography Sam McCurdy spent about two years discussing the look of the film before making it , one thing they were adamant about was that it should be shot on location and nowhere near a green screen. Magnificent and stirring musical score by Ilan Eshkeri . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Neil Marshall (Doomsday , Descent , Dog soldiers). Neil Marshall shot the film in such hard conditions that some cast members suffered health problems . One of Neil Marshall's influences was Walter Hill's The warriors (1979) , this is why Hill is thanked in the end credits . Rating : Good, it's a nice historical extravaganza well set in ancient Rome , done in great scale and praised for its action sequences.

When the final credits were rolling my regular cinema-going counterpart observed "that was one of the most outwardly violent films I've seen since Kill Bill". That's not far from the truth. Limbs are hacked clean off, stomachs are regularly impaled and the claret fluid sprays endlessly. Though the major difference is where Tarantino's homage to the old chop-socky movies from Eastern cinema is cartoonish in its bloody visuals, Centurion is anything but tongue-in-cheek; here the blood, sweat and tears seep into the muddy vistas and bucolic rivers of Great Britain to intensify the atmosphere.

Director Neil Marshall (The Descent) has crafted a gritty movie that at its core is a simple 'cat and mouse' tale – and a highly entertaining one at that – but becomes much more thanks to the efficacious work from all the cast and crew. Marshall himself executes a few impressive sequences, the most outstanding being the initial ambush on the Ninth Legion, showing once again he knows how to stretch a small budget with minimalistic techniques and a passionate approach. Director of photography Sam McCurdy provides a suitably grimy and grainy look that, although at times is too dim, sets the ideal tone for the film. Perhaps Marshall should have monitored the editing closer though, Chris Gill's frenetic cutting very nearly ruins a couple of the fight scenes.

Major Hollywood star in the waiting Michael Fassbender (played the German-impersonating British Lieutentant in Inglourious Basterds) is undoubtedly the standout among the acting contingent. As the titular soldier, Fassbender makes for a charismatic leading man that convinces in both the physical and dramatic elements of the role. I eagerly wait to see what he does as the young Magneto in the upcoming X-Men prequel. Elsewhere The Wire alumni Dominic West is rough around the edges as the gruff General Virilus, Olga Kurylenko is positively bad-ass as the mute, monomaniacal warrior hell-bent on revenge and BBC favourite David Morrisey adds clout in his supporting role of Bothos.

A grubby, gory delight.

4 out of 5 (1 - Rubbish, 2 - Ordinary, 3 - Good, 4 - Excellent, 5 - Classic)

A small group of Roman soldiers are left alive after an attack on their legion. They must survive the elements and an expert tracker coming after them. Behind enemy lines and fighting for the lives.

With Centurion, Neil Marshall has his biggest budget to date. The film is ambitious in style and tone. Marshall, who get a cult following after two excellent small horror films (Dog Soldiers and Descent) has gone on to bigger, but not really better things. Doomsday was a nice throwback to genre films (even though it didn't really know which one it wanted to be) and now Centurion, which has Marshall tipping his hat to Gladiator and Spartacus.

I consider myself a Marshall fan, which is why I even bothered to give this film a viewing. If his name weren't attached, I wouldn't have bothered. Marshall is apart of the Splat-Pack. The horror coined group for filmmakers like Rob Zombie and Eli Roth. It's no question as to why Marshall is apart of this group, every film of his has some body part ending up some place. It's funny to me that this film might be his most gruesome one yet and it isn't even horror.

The film's most gruesome moments are during the big attack on the romans. Arrows are shot into heads, arms, legs and necks are taken out like a hot knife through butter. I had a few moments where I was actually shocked at the carnage on the screen. One of the more gruesome period pieces. During the attack, the Picts (Scottish) take prisoner the General (Dominic West). The small group of survivors, including Michael Fassbender decide to try and get him back. They fail, but they did succeed in killing the lead Pict's son. He sends a group of people to go after them, thus we have a cat and mouse chase throughout the film.

It's suspenseful in places and aggravating in others. The lead tracker, is suppose to have excellent skills, where she is always on their tail, no matter what. Yet the filmmakers seem to forget this sometimes. She can sense them across the river in one scene, but not underneath her feet in another. These inconsistencies are bothersome. Yet it happens. The characters themselves aren't too memorable either. I couldn't really tell the survivors apart from one another and neither stood out of the crowd. These shortcomings in the script are what bring Centurion down. The most interesting character is killed off too early too.

Yet, Marshall still manages to deliver an entertaining film. It's not near the level of awesome that is Dog Soldiers, or even The Descent, but it does deliver what you would expect from this genre. There are moments where the film loses its sense of direction (such as a lover subplot) and there are even moments of predictability, but as a whole, the film delivers.

This movie was relatively unheard of when a friend of mine gave a copy of it. I was skeptical since it was not from Hollywood, no big stars etc. However, it proved I was wrong. This is not a masterpiece indeed; but it was able to get me a thrilling ride from beginning to end. To make it short, I would say this is a combination of "BEHIND ENEMY LINES" scenario at the pace and editing of "BOURNE ULTIMATUM" set at the backdrop of "KING ARTHUR". It's true that script does not focus much on character development but it does not cause any trouble in enjoying this action-adventure. As one reviewer has mentioned, I agree that portrayal of a female warrior by Olga Kurylenko is much more realistic and successful than the similar role played by Keira knightly in "King Arthur". It is really sad that movies like this are not given adequate publicity since this is much better than most big budget Hollywood movies that are being hyped inappropriately.

A group of Roman soldiers who survived an ambush are chased relentlessly by a hunting party of Picts. As with every other movie by Neil Marshall (The Descent, Doomsday) this big screen epic attempts to mix the grittiness of European filmmaking with the entertainment values of Hollywood movie-making. And as is becoming signature with this director, Centurion pursues his tradition to feature very strong and memorable female characters.

While it is Centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) who is the protagonist as the somewhat reluctant leader of our heroes, the most memorable character on screen is Etain, a Brigantian tracker played by Olga Kurylenko. Etain's tribe was massacred by the Romans and she took refuge with the Picts. Her backstory is a powerful device that explains all the hatred she has for Romans and the length she will go to exact revenge. Neil Marshall makes great use of actress Kurylenko and she literally eats the screen in almost every scene she is in, despite her character being mute. Etain reaches iconic status as far as I'm concerned, much like Karl Vreski (Die Hard).

The actual plot, despite its historical context, is less Gladiator and more Apocalypto. Several battles are extremely gritty, entering gory territory as blood flows. There are a lot of CGI sequences mixed with traditional effects but they do not detract from the experience too much. Quintus' bunch of survivors are portrayed by a group of effective actors but the movie's short length prevents much characterization. Where Marshall is more effective is in the portrayal of the Picts. In very few words, several characters stand out throughout the movie.

Everything is fairly entertaining but the movie never quite reaches classic epic status due to its short length and several incongruities. For instance, I still don't understand why two healthy and armed soldiers would run away from wolves, nor why wolves would pursue them (that simply flies in the face of anything we know about the behavior of wolves). Etain is also ordered to severe the heads of the men she is chasing but conveniently omits certain characters so that they survive their injuries, which makes no sense and is transparent bad writing. Likewise, when the Romans have a chance to steal or kill the Picts' horses, they simply ignore this opportunity. These plot holes add up pretty fast and detract from our experience, turning what could have been a classic into just a great pop corn flick.

But an entertaining pop corn flick it is, despite its faults! I wish Marshall would be slightly less ambitious, as it seems he is at his best working on smaller scale movies but he still has a knack to shoot fun films and create engaging characters. Special kudos for not glorifying the Roman empire and especially, for not portraying the Picts as clear-cut villains. Although the structure of the film firmly puts the Picts in the "baddies" slot, there are several hints and a lot of subtext that, on the contrary, showcases the Roman empire as bloodthirsty invaders, plotting backstabbers and savages themselves.

Every amateur of sword epic will want to see this one at least once, possibly several times.