Okay, Neil, you've had your fun—now get back to business

Rating: 7/10 (24 April 2014)

A group of brave Roman soldiers trapped behind enemy lines are hunted by savage Picts.
OR
A group of brave Picts defend their homeland against savage Roman invaders.
No matter who you side with, this historical adventure will provide 97 minutes of perfectly serviceable popcorn escapism, with impressively gruesome fight scenes, spectacular scenery, solid acting, and slick direction; the problem is, for longtime fans of Neil Marshall, a director who set the bar extremely high with his first two features, Dog Soldiers (2002) and The Descent (2005), serviceable just isn't good enough.
It happened with Marshall's 2008 post-apocalyptic action flick Doomsday and it's happened again here: a larger budget has allowed the director to become over-indulgent and the film has become flabby around the edges as a result: there's a touch too much of the epic, sweeping camera-work; the dialogue is a little pompous at times; the violence relies too heavily on CGI; an unnecessary romantic subplot featuring Imogen Poots drags things down for a while. It's not terrible by any means, but neither is it the lean, mean movie that we know Marshall is capable of.
6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.