Extremely Solid
Added 10/6/2009
Last Legion / B000VKL6ZM
*Spoilers*
It's probably safe to say that "Last Legion" isn't going to win any huge accolades - on the surface, this is just another Roman / Medieval / Dark Ages action adventure that we've all seen before.
But on closer look, there's an awful lot here to like. The acting is really quite superb for an action-adventure movie, with Kingsley in particular shining in every scene he's in. Philosopher, scholar, teacher, surrogate father, magician, and warrior monk - all these roles combined would normally feel implausible and cheesy, but Kingsley pulls the combination off beautifully. Perhaps it's because of the wounded and slightly doubtful air that he brings to each scene that makes him feel nevertheless human and vulnerable, or maybe it's because he's given some genuinely witty and intelligent dialogue. Also, just for the record, this is probably the first movie I've seen Colin Firth in where I actually liked his character, which is a relief because all this time I thought I didn't like him and now it seems that I actually just don't like arrogant characters. The supporting characters deserve a call-out, too - the young caesar is very well written indeed, which just the right blend of insecurity and sheltered I've-been-raised-to-rule naïveté.
And can I just take a moment to thank "Last Legion" for including a warrior woman that doesn't come off like a cardboard stereotype? She's serious (as well she should be) without being a stereotypical hormonal jerk, she's competent without being invulnerable, she's emotionally interested in the hero without being a simpering love-sick idiot, and she's interested in strong men without going to Red Sonja extremes (not that I didn't like Red Sonja, mind you). Oh, yeah, and she's maternal towards the leading kid, but not in the oh-so-irritating "your mum died so I guess I'm the next one" resigned switcheroo that movies sport so often.
Steering back on topic, "Last Legion" sports a decent plot (even though the end "twist" is completely obvious from the first moment you see the sword), good dialogue, uniquely human characters (don't get me started about the actual members of the last legion, all of whom are delightfully human rather than Hollywood mindless cannon-fodder, yay), and really lovely action and sword-play, especially if you're a D&D nerd like myself and you enjoy seeing what an exotic swordswoman can do against a tribe of burly barbarians.
But, really, if you haven't guessed by now, I recommend "Last Legion" for the characterization of all the players, which sets it apart from all the other cookie-cutter Medieval Times movies out there. It's nice to see writers and directors make a real effort to have human characters, and it's especially nice to see what can happen when you throw some decent actors in a room and see what shakes out (as opposed to the more usual technique of tossing a couple of Big Names onto the screen and hoping that CGI will cover the gaps). In the end, it's still a cute, mindless cut-'em-up movie, but it's one that won't make your ears bleed from inane dialogue, and that's a plus in my book.
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Watch it, but don't try to think about it
Added 7/5/2009
It's amazing what you can learn at the movies. I've been a student of late classical and early medieval history for forty years, but I never knew the young Romulus Augustulus (called "Augustus" here and played not too badly by Thomas Sangster, though the real Romulus was around twenty), the last Roman emperor (more or less), fled to Britain when he was overthrown by Odoacer. Under the protection of Aurelius (Colin Firth, who behaves nothing like Mr. Darcy), he seeks the support and protection of the "last legion," which has given up hope of recall and has gone native under the shadow of Hadrian's Wall. He's also accompanied by a mysterious wise man called Ambrosinus (instead of the more usual Ambrosianus, and played by Ben Kingsley, though I can't imagine he's that desperate), who, of course, turns out to be Merlin. Vortigern is portrayed not as a regular king but as a painted Druid (I think) and the embodiment of evil. The sword-swinging scenes are fun to watch but there's a lot of throwaway nonsense along the way. For instance, the escaping party practically waltzes over the Alps (no baggage, no food, no nothing -- not even beard-growth), crosses the Channel, lands at Dover -- and then somehow finds some Sierra-like mountains to cross on their way north through Britain. Then, somehow, they arrive north of Hadrian's Wall and pass through it to reach the area settled by the last legion. Doesn't anyone research these things? Finally, the scriptwriters have conflated the Sword in the Stone with Excalibur, which were actually two quite different magical weapons. (The former broke and Arthur -- not Romulus Augustulus -- received the latter as a replacement from the Lady of the Lake.) Well, if you treat this as a live-action cartoon, it's a pleasant bit of escapism.
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The Last Legion (from The Ancient World Review)
Added 5/9/2009
The Last Legion is loosely based on the King Arthur legends and the story of Romulus Augustus, the young boy who became the emperor of Rome only to be deposed by a Gothic invasion in 476. Romulus turned out to be the last Caesar and his reign is generally considered to mark the end of the Roman Empire in the West and the beginning of the so-called Middle Ages.
The real Romulus was just a kid. As emperor, he served as a proxy for his father Orestes, who made all the decisions. In The Last Legion, Romulus is 12-years-old and the Goths overthrow him the day after his coronation. The historical Romulus actually "ruled" for 10 months before he was deposed, but it doesn't really matter. The movie had to compress the time-frame for dramatic effect.
In the movie, the Goths imprison Romulus in a villa constructed by Tiberius on the island of Capris, along with his tutor (Ben Kingsley) who passes himself off as a sorcerer through trickery and a heavy dose of mysticism. The movie presents the villa as an imposing fortress-like structure on top of a crag in the middle of the sea. In reality, Octavian Caesar and Tiberius probably constructed at least a dozen villas on Capri, an Italian island off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples. Capri was a resort, not a prison island--at least during the early years. People could be kept under house arrest in villas, though, so the movie isn't completely implausible.
Following the instructions of his tutor, the big-screen Romulus discovers the sword of Julius Caesar which is supposed to make its owner the ruler of the world. The boy emperor and his tutor are then rescued from the clutches of the Goths by Romulus' soldier-guardian, Aurelius (Colin Forth) and a female warrior from India who is working for the Eastern Emperor in Constantinople. Romulus and his escort flee to Britain to seek the protection of the last surviving legion in the crumbling Roman Empire, the Ninth Legion, apparently a reference to Legio IX Hispana. Historically, the Ninth Legion was formed by Julius Caesar before 58 BC and fought in the Gallic Wars. The legion did serve in Britain at one time, but they were later moved to Germania and disappeared from the records around 120 AD. That's the conventional story, anyway. There was a legend popular in Britain and Scotland that the Ninth vanished during its stay in Britannia, so the movie is tapping into mythology here--or maybe the story is true. Who knows?
At any rate, Romulus and his protectors arrive at Hadrian's Wall, only to discover that the soldiers of the last legion--long forgotten by Rome--have turned to farming in a nearby village. Pursued by vengeful Goths and a local British warlord who wants the sword for himself, Romulus and his small band of Roman die-hards stage a last stand at Hadrian's Wall, only to be rescued in the nick of time by the Roman legionaries who have decided to put down their plows and rally behind their lawful emperor. In the aftermath, we learn that Romulus is the ancestor of King Arthur, his sorcerer/tutor is Merlin and the sword is the famous Excalibur.
This is a great story, but The Last Legion is one of those movies that dances drunkenly on the fine line between semi-watchable and completely forgettable. It's not that bad overall, but it should have been a lot better considering its "All Star" cast, which included Ben Kingsley, Colin Firth, Peter Mullan, Kevin McKidd and the East Indian babe Aishwarya Rai, who plays one of those Kill Bill Ninja-type female warriors with gravity-defying fighting skills.
Kevin McKidd, the Scottish actor who played Lucius Vorenus on HBO's Rome, is the best of the lot, in my opinion,but McKidd didn't have much to do in The Last Legion except snarl and gnash on the scenery as an evil Goth determined to kill the boy emperor. The rest of the cast did what they could with their parts, more or less, but hiring big names like Kingsley is no substitute for a good script. I'm guessing that actor salaries ate up a major part of the budget for The Lost Legion. They would have been better off hiring no-name actors, getting some better writers and sinking more cash into research, costumes and sets. Movies like this rise or fall on their realism, no matter how fantastic their plots.
The Lost Legion has its moments, but in general the movie didn't feel real. For the most part, it looked like a Hollywood version of the ancient world, particularly the scenes in Rome, but it noticeably improved once the action moved to Capris and Britain. The video-game sword fights in which Aishwarya Rai did back-flips with two swords, killing dozens of burly Goths without getting a scratch, didn't exactly make it more believable. The producers apparently spent so much money on actor salaries that they didn't have a lot left over for special effects, but the digital re-creation of Hadrian's Wall and some of the other CGI scenes were actually pretty decent.
In the final analysis, the historical setting saves the movie. I'm no expert on the Later Roman Empire, the Gothic invasions or the King Arthur legends, but the whole period is so exotic and interesting that it can rescue an otherwise lackluster flick.
Check it out.
Ancient World Review
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Somewhat lackluster
Added 4/21/2009
Given the number of movies about the Roman Empire's last days, we were eventually bound to get one that had a lead female action star; in this case Aishwarya Rai from India. This movie is about a Roman general sworn to protect a boy who as the last descendant of Julius Caesar, is the emperor. After a coup by the Goths, this general takes the boy to Britian in hopes of finding the last Roman legion still loyal to the emperor. The story ends with the boy becoming the father of King Arthur. Seems like a nice touch to the Arthur legend. Except that a movie based on the fall of the Roman Empire should have great action scenes and this movie does not. Yes there are action scenes, but they are not great. The sword fight scenes seem overly choreographed; battle is chaotic, but in this movie everyone is at the right place to either get killed or kill someone else. Even the movie soundtrack was lackluster. Probably the worst part of the movie is that almost all the key characters are played by English actors, and look and talk English regardless of what their supposed tribe/nation is supposed to be in this movie. Overall, just another humdrum movie about the Roman Empire.
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Enjoyable Movie
Added 3/22/2009
I saw the reviews when the movie first came out in the theaters and avoided it because of those reviews. I recently saw Bride and Prejudice and was stricken with how wonderful Ashwara Rai looked (with her piercing gray eyes) and I looked to see what other movies she had made.
This is a movie that you shouldn't take too seriously. It does touch on some actual history (the Western Roman Empire did fall and the Goths did sack Rome) but the movie is more fun to watch as a swashbuckler kind of film. There is some good humor involved and I thought that the action sequences were very good (if you watch the special features you can see how they choreographied some of the fight scenes). I did not have high expectations for this movie based on professional reviews when the movie came out. So I was very pleasantly surprised when I finally saw this film.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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