The Roman Ninth Legion existed. The Legion also truly engaged the Picts in the early second century. Beyond those basic facts, Centurion prefers to fill in the blanks with an odd mix of anachronistic hackneyed dialogue and graphic violence. This film will probably excel among fans of graphic comics, while falling completely flat as a period piece. I fall somewhere in between.
Centurion introduces us to a Gladiator named Quintas Dias (Michael Fassbender) running for his life through snow-capped scenery in 117 AD. He is in the area now known as Scotland, which was once ruled by a vicious tribe of warriors called the Picts. The Roman's have overextended their reign stretching halfway across the globe. Their tenuous hold on the Northern reaches of Europe has been challenged by tribes engaging in guerrilla tactics and politicians seeking to improve their own lot (has anything changed in two thousand years?)
Two weeks earlier, Dias was stationed at a Roman Outpost that was overrun by Picts. He was the only survivor, taken captive to extract whatever information he held regarding the Roman advance. Dias refuses to yield to his interrogators and eventually slips his bonds. Dias finds his way back to the Roman Garrison, where he unites with General of the Ninth Legion, Titus Flavius Varilus (Dominic West). The General enlists Dias to return to battle with the Ninth Legion, aided by a tongue-less Pict scout called Etain (Olga Kurylenko). With a nod to historical fact (or absence of full historical knowledge), the Ninth Legion is never heard from again. Following an ambush, we are left with a chase sequence where the Roman soldiers are slowly whittled down to less than a handful of survivors. Survivors whose story will never be committed to the history books.
I was a bit disappointed once I started streaming this film. The first thing I noticed was the same nagging issue that remained with me throughout the film. The dialogue was horrible. It appeared that the anachronistic use of curse words was intentional. Although there were also anachronistic expressions, the use of language was really irritating throughout the film. That was compounded by the fact that the dialogue was hackneyed and predictable. You should not be finishing lines in a film on a regular basis. The anachronisms may not have been so bad if the dialogue had been rich and worthy of accolades. It simply felt like a thrown together script based loosely on events from the second century with no regard to historical accuracy. If this were presented as a graphic comic set in an alternate past, I could have gone with the idea...but the dialogue still needed work.
The action and special effects in Centurion fared much better than the dialogue. Although incredibly violent and gore-explicit, the effects were stunning. The effects were overplayed a few times, but that didn't bother me as much. I am not certain a sword could be sharp enough to make a clean cut straight through a skull, but it happened in the film. There were also a couple of times where the effects appeared to exceed the violence. Running into a tree is not likely to cause someones head to explode like a melon (unless they are going at an incredible speed). The battle scenes were chaotic with in-your-face close-ups that transported the audience to the battlefield. The effect of drawing viewers into the melee demonstrated the incredible accomplishment of the special effects. Director Neil Marshall definitely gets credit for building suspense and delivering exceptional battle scenes.
The story itself was mildly interesting. Creating a story to tie together some unanswered historical questions requires some creativity. Centurion does not lack creativity. It may stretch the imagination at times (like allowing men on foot to outrun mounted scouts), but the premise was enjoyable. The sub-plots worked together to create a seamless story, even with the predictable quality of the script. Some of the characters were flat, creating a fairy tale-like "good guy/bad guy" setup. It was simplistic and thinly veiled, but I enjoyed the overall story in spite of myself.
Centurion easily earned an R rating from the MPAA. The violence easily earned the rating with a graphic bloodfest that was unlike anything I have seen in recent films. I do not normally agree with R ratings that are solely based on violence in a war context, but this film challenges my theory on that point. It is the definition of bloody violence. Some strong language adds some strength to the rating, but is secondary. I would not suggest allowing easily disturbed viewers to watch this film...it is the stuff that nightmares are made of. My caution to the Romans? They should have Pict their battles more carefully. (groan). Run time is one hour, 37 minutes.
I was a bit disappointed with Centurion. The concept was brilliant. The story line required very little in the way of plot twists to capture my attention. In spite of being somewhat predictable, the story and epic feel of the film did manage to capture my attention. The cinematic qualities were rich and the acting was excellent. All of those great attributes were compromised with an anachronistic script filled with tepid unintelligent dialogue that felt thrown together as an after-thought to the visual aspects of the film. That was disappointing to me. With better dialogue and improved accuracy, this film could have well exceeded expectations. Instead, it is mediocre. 6/10.
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