L'Aigle de la Neuvième Légion

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. The CGI effects seem to have been kept under control, and so the film turned out to be more human than animation. The combat scenes were done in the current style of quick cuts where you just get a vague idea of what is going on, rather than actually being able to follow the blows being struck.

The film seemed mostly faithful to Roman history. It gives a vivid illustration of why Hadrian's wall was built. But I am not totally sure the Roman Senate had a "branch" in Britain.

The two leads (Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell) were perfectly suited to their roles, kind of like Hercules and his sidekick from 60s historical adventure films. But minus the corny jokes. There were no banquets with production numbers. And there was no "love interest" written in. And no magical effects or mythical creatures. And it was very easy to follow. And hugely entertaining.

It's not art but it's rather good, regardless.

I went into this movie not knowing what to expect, and in the end I was rather pleased with it. Beautiful cinematography, great fight scenes, an interesting story . . . The movie also pays incredible attention to detail and is not afraid of a little dirt; one small thing that stood out to me is when they're eating dinner at the uncle's house, and it's kind of dark in there. Movies are always trying to convince us that a few candles light a house just as well as modern electric lights, but this one reminds us that no, they're candles. It's little things like that I found compelling: the characters acquire dirt and grime as they travel, the costumes and buildings are quite detailed, the Britons up in the north speak Gaelic and nothing but Gaelic. Often in movies with foreign languages, the characters will speak that foreign language for a few lines then switch into English. But the Britons keep up their Gaelic, and they speak it smoothly and fluently, too.

I really liked Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell, too. Tatum seems to be trying to speak very properly and it's rather odd, but he's good as a stoic young man who wants to be honorable and is tired of spending his entire life being chastised for a mistake that he did not make. Jamie Bell is rather fantastic as the slave who has every reason to hate Rome except for his growing respect for his Roman master; he's unpredictable and tortured and terribly interesting to watch.

It's not a perfect movie--sometimes I wasn't sure that it knew what message it was trying to convey--but generally I liked it. I will probably purchase it when it comes out.

Although this story takes place in ancient Scotland before that area had that name, the real basis for this tale is the massacre of a Roman Army in the Teutoberg forest some 100 years earlier and during the reign of Tiberius as Emperor. No one knows what the real story happened to that army as the barbarian tribes left no written record.

The Romans as we know were a conquering people and the northwestern most extent of their conquest was part of the island of Britain. The part they did conquer was what later became England. What was Wales and Scotland developed on their own without Roman occupation. If the Romans had conquered the entire island a whole lot of subsequent history would have changed.

The story of The Eagle which was the battle standard the Roman Legions marched behind was shot in Scotland itself and in eastern Europe which has remained a whole lot like it was 2000 years ago. Channing Tatum plays the son of the commander who took his army into what became Scotland where Roman law has no meaning and it was massacred. Rumor has it that the standard eagle has been seen in Druid camps. That brings disgrace on Tatum's family name as there are no accounts as to just what happened.

While visiting Uncle Donald Sutherland at some gladiatorial games, Tatum on a whim prevents the execution of a slave who won't fight a trained gladiator for the crowd's pleasure. The slave is a Briton played by Jamie Bell and he becomes Tatum's slave and swears fealty to him personally for saving his life, though he makes clear what he thinks of the Roman conquerors.

Tatum decides on a mission to go with Bell north of Hadrian's Wall which marks the boundary of the territory the Romans have conquered to find out what happened. Their adventures and experiences there form the basis for the rest of the story. I will say that Tatum gets to have the unique experience of learning first hand what it feels like to be one of the conquered instead of being a conqueror.

Tatum and Bell play nicely off each other and there are some object lessons about the meaning of conquering a people and the responsibility of governing thereafter. I liked The Eagle because for once in a sand and scandal epic about the Roman Empire the story is told as much from the conquered side as the conqueror.

The Eagle is nicely photographed as well as telling a good, coherent, and moral story. Try to see this one for a different slant on these kind of films.

"The Eagle" is another fine film in the sword-and-sandal genre. It has great action sequences, some fine heroic traits like bravery and courage, and great performances by Channing Tatum (surprisingly), Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland and other good supporting players. It is history and fiction, yet it is rousing in every sense.

No, it is not as excellent and violent/bloody as "Gladiator". Everyone is quick to make comparisons. But it is still very good, and for a PG-13 movie, it has quite some bloody scenes, as a very stark and bleak atmosphere throughout, with a strong sense of unpredictability running throughout the film thanks to very talented director Kevin Macdonald. This is one of the movie's strongest points, proving that simplicity is the key to making some great moments in the film. It brings you into the movie, taking you on a ride through 140 A.D. Scotland as it really should be.

My only gripe is that some of the action sequences have shaky-camera to it, making a few of the action sequences unfocused, but I think, this time, that shaky camera makes sense because it adds to the chaotic sense during that period, where no one is really sure how to battle in that situation, adding to the unpredictability. The pace is moderate, taking the time to develop Tatum and Bell's characters, and the editing is fluid, nicely putting the scenes together. Atli Ovarsson, too, knows when and where to put his music through, allowing the film's more effective moments to shine through with or without the music.

The script is not exactly new but there are some nice twists given to it. The bonding between the Roman and his Briton slave never really goes beyond that to buddy-comedy mode, but there are scenes of mutual respect shown towards each other in a very realistic fashion. Both Tatum and Bell, showing subtle but good chemistry, are great in their roles, I'm especially surprised at Tatum's good performance, as he has proved that he has the acting chops to go along with his good looks. He isn't playing the fool.

Macdonald skillfully directs the film using the traits above and more with focus and attention, using real stunt-men/extras and real locations without a hint of CGI involved, adding even more points to the raw realism of the film. Of course, seeing Macdonald's documentary background, it comes to no surprise that the film has a very realistic feel to it. The bleak atmosphere, gritty but fantastic production and costume design, beautiful cinematography (by "Slumdog Millionaire's" Anthony Dod Mantle, no doubt), and amazing music by Ovarsson (this is his first score which I actually liked) all combine together with Macdonald and cast and crew to deliver a solid, somewhat spectacular action adventure that is old- fashioned and devoid of the usual clichés (there's no generic romantic subplot, thank God!) that seem to plague this film genre lately.

Made in the hands of another, lesser director, this film will probably end up looking like "The Last Legion" or "Centurion", probably overblown and over-stylized. Not here. Kevin Macdonald knows when to put in the bloody scenes, when to put in the music, and that simplicity is best when it comes to everything. This is terrific entertainment made even better by a director who knows what he is doing, and another fine addition to the sword-and-sandal genre.

They don't make them like they use to anymore.

Overall rating: 74/100

I'll keep my review short; no verbose reviews from me. This is one of the better Roman conquest films I've seen. I look for historic, geographic and topographic accuracies and the film starts with densely wooded scenes, reflecting the fact that Britain was densely forested right up until medieval times. The scenes look fairly realistic but the main characters managing to remain cleanly shaven despite being on an arduous journey is not so accurately reflecting reality. I like the genuine use of the Gaelic language by the Celts/Scoti/Picts, a language which I learned in school, so I could follow it, and there is a scene where they drink Uisce Beatha/Uisghe Beatha - The Water of Life - Whiskey/Whisky, the beverage apparently originally brought from Ireland to Scotland by the Irish predecessors of the Scoti. In the long historic run of things, the Roman and Norman conquests of Britain set the path to the island becoming the root of the British Empire, as they introduced the urban and feudal ruling systems respectively. If Britain had not been conquested thus, history and development would have turned out very differently for Britain. This one is worth watching for history as well as for the story itself.