The Last Legion

The year is 460 A.D., Rome is weak and a new child emperor is crowned. Rome soon falls to the Goths, and the emperor is taken prisoner. All that's left is a handful of men who are obligated by duty to rescue him. The men are led by Aurelius (Colin Firth) and the emperor's mysterious former guardian Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley). They travel to Britannia to find The Last Legion that could be counted on to be loyal to the emperor.

From there, it becomes ridiculous and tries to tie in another legendary story. Whole sections are rushed or skipped. The action is passable but lack drama. There are many plot holes. Logic is thrown out the window. They bend over backwards to try and close this story loop. It's more awkward than poetic as may be hoped.

There are many adaptations and versions to the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, with Merlin the sorcerer, and of the magical sword Excalibur, some versions which set it into stone, while others, handed out by a lady in the water. The Last Legion is essentially touting a story about the beginnings of Excalibur and how it took to the former. However, it took a long route to tell this story, going all the way back to 400-something AD, a time where Rome is in turmoil.

Actually Rome is in turmoil ever since Julius Caesar got killed by friends, Romans, countrymen. In a time where generals scheme to usurp the throne and politicians of the Senate are corrupt as hell, it's little wonder why one of the best and most loyal generals Aurelius (Colin Firth) gets recalled to protect the rear of the new boy-king-god-Caesar Romulus Augustus, played by Thomas Sangster (the kid in Nanny McPhee and Tristan and Isolde). Naturally the enemies spring a surprise attack, and our merry men have to flee Rome, and journey to Britain to regroup with the 9th Legion (henceforth also known as the Last Legion), bringing in tow a seer Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley), and a lady warrior in Mira (Aishwarya Rai).

Like most medieval stories with elements of magic or involving the higher powers from Mount Olympus, The Last Legion does away with the sorcery portion, like what Troy and King Arthur had done, opting instead to focus more on reality, and what possibly could have been done without divine intervention, or fantastical assistance. Thus this makes Kingsley's role a little redundant, and relegates him into a fortune teller rather than an all powerful wizard, despite his garb looking a lot like Gandalf's.

While it could have gotten away with its material given 10 years back, unfortunately the stakes in the genre have been raised, and everyone's expecting a spectacle of huge armies battling in hand to hand combat, with its combatants having some form of fancy killing moves. The Last Legion pales in terms of providing that level of detail and spectacle, and chose instead to provide unsophisticated battle scenes, or swordplay that is a tad too uninspiring. Most of the fanciful moves were reserved for Aishwarya, but even that too began to become repetitive. Not even her booby trapped enhanced short sword offered anything we're never seen before.

With characters you don't really care about, what made it a little unbearable amongst the good guys, was the totally hokey, unbelievable romance between Rai and Firth's characters. It doesn't mean that having characters from the opposite sex means they find each other irresistible and want to get into each other's pants. There is absolutely zero chemistry and zero buildup. One minute they're allies, the next they're admiring each other's swordplay, and then, the bed beckons. And if the villains justify what kind of heroes we get, then it's a no brainer that they are bland and devoid of any interesting notion. World domination seems to be their only objective, and both the Romans and the British (using the term loosely here) villains are merely caricatures.

As I said, while The Last Legion might have worked if it's released 10 years ago, this movie can't justify it being made now. It's suitable at most for that DVD rental for a lazy afternoon, but nothing more, and only if you're in dire need of some, or any, form of entertainment.

THE LAST LEGION is a semi-realistic historical fantasy based on a novel by popular Italian historical novelist Valerio Massimo Manfredi. It's a story that attempts to merge both Roman history and Arthurian legend, and although it's not always entirely believable, it does have a fast pace to take your mind off the unbelievable bits.

One of the worst things about this film is the cheap and cheerful direction, which makes it look like a B-movie. I wasn't surprised to find out that director Doug Lefler cut his teeth on both HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS and XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, because THE LAST LEGION looks a lot like those shows and has the same kind of shaky, bloodless action scenes.

However, the film does have a great cast going on it with nearly ever role in the film occupied by familiar faces. GAME OF THRONES fans are in for a particular treat with parts for Iain Glen, Nonso Anozie, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, James Cosmo, Robert Pugh, Alexander Siddig, and Owen Teale. SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND star John Hannah plays virtually the same role as in that show, and ROME's Kevin McKidd is the bad guy. The major roles are claimed by Colin Firth, who never really convinces as an action hero, and Ben Kingsley, reliably entertaining as the wise old sage. Meanwhile, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai plays the token female role, unbelievable in the fight scenes but heavily sexualised throughout, much like Keira Knightley in KING ARTHUR. THE LAST LEGION isn't a great film, but it's a passable time filler and just watching all those familiar faces filled me with joy.

Reading the back cover of the DVD and seeing that Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley are given top billing, I expected an intelligent King Arthur story. Well, it really wasn't either, although I did find it entertaining. I must not have read the description carefully enough. No matter; overall, it was fun but just a little too silly. I'm beginning to wonder about the discernment of some of these actors, how they can play such intelligent roles for a film or two and then revert to something like this.

Anyway, the story is really a Roman empire one, not a King Arthur story. We only see the tie-in to the later in the last few minutes of the film, in the epilogue. This action story is all about the last Caesar, a small boy, and the last legion that fought as Rome had now been taken over by the Goths. The Roman Empire had come to an end.

Mixed in with that tale was the famous "excalibur" sword. We see the origins of that and how it eventually got into the hands of King Arthur. But, once again, that is only explained in the final minutes. However, the sword is used by the good Roman general who protects the last Caesar from the Goths, who want him imprisoned for life, or killed.

What made the story interesting, at least for me, was the chase-scene type atmosphere of a small band of heroes protecting a little boy, fleeing the bloodthirsty Goths until they could mount some sort of counter-attack in the north in Brittania. That, and the pretty computer-generated scenery and action stunts, kept it interesting. However, don't look for credibility in those action scenes and expect the typical political-correctness of today (i.e. where a woman beats up hundreds of men and the good guys of all colors prevail despite ridiculous odds).

Some parts of this will leave you shaking your head in disbelief. You will feel you're watching a kids' film at times. However, if you want an hour-and-a-half of decent escapist fare, and can put your brain on hold for that time, it fits the bill and will at least entertain you.

This is a nice production with an average budget, great sets and thundering battles about the fall of the Roman Empire. Although the complete Roman Empire decline and fall took centuries, by the end of fifth century it was simply a battleground for warring rival Caesars and Barbarians chiefs. The Germans gather, take over and pull down the Roman gates. The Goths commanded by Odoacer(Peter Mullan), king of Herulos, invade Rome(476 AD), assesinated Orestes(Iain Glen), father of emperor Romulus Augustulos (Thomas Sangster). The young Caesar is sent to Capri along with his preceptor Ambrosinus(Ben Kingsley). A motley group of soldiers led by loyal Aurelianus (Colin Firth) are assigned by senator Nestor (John Hannah) to free him. They're accompanied by a beautiful Indian warrior named Mira (Aishwarya Rai). Without another alternative, they travel to Britannia to meet the last legion, located near the Wall of Adriano; but they're pursued by relentless barbarians (Kevin McKidd, James Cosmo). Although the Romans had partially withdrawn from Britain and its politics essentially dissolved into chaos. Later on, it's thought that a minor war lord, probably named Artos, did his best to maintain civilization and Christianity in the west of England.

This is a larger-than-life production with good direction, interesting scripting, and enthusiastic performances place this far above the usual empty-headed historical spectacle. Several action scenes are outstanding with spectacular battle images and thrilling fights. Unfortunately, on small house screens much of the splendor will be lost. You will be left with the wooden Colin Firth and the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai in a love story that was underdeveloped due tho the film's emphasis on spectacle. The picture packs colorful cinematography by Pontecorvo and evocative musical score by Patrick Doyle. The flick is professionally directed by Doug Lefler, who previously made ¨Dragonheart , a new beginning ¨. Rating : Good, it's a nice extravaganza well set in ancient Rome, done in great scale and praised for its action sequences.