Gory Historical Adventure

Rating: 6/10 (2 December 2012)

Neil Marshall seems an odd choice for this type of movie . An established horror director isn't the first person you'd think of when choosing a director to make a historical adventure featuring ancient Rome in their battle to tame the Picts . That said he knows Scotland very well since his previous films DOG SOLDIERS and DOOMSDAY were both set there even if they were filmed in Luxumberg and South Africa respectively . At least the Scotland here resembles the gloomy bleak landscape seen in Winter
From the outset Marshall shows his genre roots by making CENTURION as violent as possible . I saw this on the same day as I saw the last RAMBO movie and there's not a world of difference between the two movies where violence is concerned , people are decapitated and disemboweled and rivers run red with blood . If there's a problem it's as in his other films Marshall shows a slight problem with pacing . When characters sit down and talk you find yourself hoping for a bit more character interaction but this rug is pulled from under the audiences feet and we're back to a bloody set-piece regardless if it's needed or not . I had hoped for a little bit more conversation and a little bit less action please . If someone makes a bio-pic on Elvis then Neil Marshall will not be that director. That said films such as THE NAKED PREY and APOCALYPTO don't have much in the way of conversation either
I'll say one thing in favour of the director and that is he's able to make a film where the British Isles have been invaded and the modern day British audience are still able to empathise with the invaders to an extent . Neither side is painted in black and white and the Romans are helped by the fact that they're played by a likable cast . One possibly might suggest that there's a subtext on Afghanistan going on here somewhere . By this I mean an all conquering super power finding itself unable to decisively beat an indigenous population . In fact the infamous line about Afghanistan being " The grave yard of empires " is almost spoken in relation to the Picts
And that's perhaps the underlying fundamental problem with CENTURION . It's a film that could be somewhat more cerebral and character driven but has sacrificed this in order to be a violent historical action adventure that doesn't let up . It's a good film but perhaps should have been an even better one regardless of the budget