Centurion (2010)
With his brilliantly uncompromising horror hit "The Descent", UK director Neil Marshall set the bar high, even for himself, and I think he's struggling to top his own effort, ever since "Descent"'s success back in 2006. His 2008 post apocalyptic sci-fi action flick "Doomsday" was decent and fun to watch, but nothing special. With his latest roman epic "Centurion", Marshall yet again fails on his attempt to outshine "The Descent". This doesn't necessarily mean that "Centurion"'s not a good film. It's well-shot, tense and quite entertaining, yet unfortunately, there's almost nothing memorable about it, except for its visuals. The aerial photography of the Scotish highlands is stunning to look at, and really gives the film a truly epic scope. The steely blue tint nicely reflects the harsh and cold atmosphere presented in the movie. The big bloody and butal battles are not only first-rate, but they also help to set the dark and grim mood of "Centurion". The story revolves around a splinter group of Roman soldiers, who fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is decimated in a devastating guerrilla attack. The plot isn't the most original, but it moves along briskly, leaving us little time to draw breath. The acting is above average. Michael Fassbinder has undoubtedly great screen presence, an action film star needs. Plus he can act and he's a pleasure to watch. Dominic West also delivers good performance as Roman general. But the stand out for me is former Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko - she's not only eye-candy, but she gives a forceful, tense performance as Etian, the nasty human hunter. Although Olga's character is mute, her body language is so strong and she's so expressive, it's fascinating to watch. Also, her skill with the spear in particular is more than impressive. Overall, "Centurion" is fairly gripping, gory and intense, and it offers arresting visuals and strong performances from everyone involved. Not one of Marshall finest films though.
- My Rating: 6.50/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 56% (5.2/10)
- IMDb: 6.6/10
6 comments:
I'll just lower my expectations then and just enjoy the visuals.
Alex, you might enjoy Olga Kurylenko as well. She was terrific and downright nasty :)
Another film I haven't watch but really want to. However, I've heard many poor receptions about this film out there.
I don't think that 'poor' is the appropriate for describing "Centurion". Think 'average' :) Nothing groundbreaking here, but it deserves to be seen for the nice visuals and Lady Kurylenko :)
This is playing in ONE theater in Los Angeles on the 27th of August. Do you think it would be worth my while to see it? I'm a big Neil Marshall fan; The Descent and Dog Soldiers are two of my favorite Horror movies from last decade.
I'm a huge Marshall fan as well, but "Centurion" wasn't as half as good as those of his films you mentioned above. However, I think it's average at best and worth seeing on big screen if you're into Roman epics.
Post a Comment