Centurdion

Rating: 4/10 (31 December 2010)

The opening of Centurion is a panning long shot of a Scottish mountain landscape. It's a similar shot to Neil Marshall's earlier film Dog Soldiers, but apparently this picture was filmed in the UK. His earlier film was shot almost entirely in Luxembourg, and that means it isn't authentic. This technique is not unique to Marshall, as he's borrowing it from Mondo films. And like them, he attempts to sensationalize violence by follow a group of characters through a hazardous but believable situation. Mondo films are not as realistic as they think themselves, which Marshall tries to correct this time by placing his preferred violence within a historical context. This pet project is set during the Roman invasion of Britain, which really happened a long time ago. Such a discrete temporal placement is rendered unnecessary once we hear our Ninth Legion heroes make overt references to the Iraqi War and speak modern profanity. Dog Soldiers occurs in Scotland because Marshall wanted it to, and frankly, no one cared where it happened. A movie like this should be violent and probably misogynistic, and it works only if we aren't making fun of it.
The most puzzling thing about the whole movie is Marshall's decision to have us follow the Romans. The movie is light on dialog and heavy on action, so the only way we have to identify with the characters is by their classification. We should hardly be expected to sympathize with the invading forces, even though they are vulnerable. And if that wasn't a misfire enough, the Iraq illusions are presented by the Romans troops, only further alienating them from us.
The narrative follows a video game-like structure. After we meet the two parties, there is a conflict. We get a few moments of dullness and another encounter begins. The only lull happens when the roman commander, the last of his legion, finds a Pict outcast in the woods. Being as she is the only female with a speaking part until that point, he has to fall in love with her. The other female presence, a mute Pict warrior, is played by Olga Kurylenko. I have reason to believe she is a shrewd actress, but I have yet to see her be anything other a sex object in the last Bond film, Paris je t'aime, Max Payne and now this. She gets characterized like Lara Croft here; a silent sexy killing machine. She's still young enough to pull this off for a few more years, but I would really like to see her in a less exploitative role in a mainstream film.
Centurion is a toss-up for (male) viewers. If you would like your violence within a loose historical context, it satisfies as a rental. Still, Dog Soldiers is more streamlined movie unburdened with such a temporal constraint, and is scary. It also has numerous film references which this one lacks. The Descent is his best work, being the most focused and well-written. His most recent movie is a gutted version of one of his earlier works without the slightest trace of what made his earlier works enjoyable. Seriously, go rent Doomsday if you skipped it instead of this one.
Not Recommended