A Very Entertaining Movie

Rating: 8/10 (8 September 2007)

The previous critique said it wasn't Troy or 300 and for that I was very grateful, as I didn't really groove on either of them. Especially 300 which I thought was a waste of good retina and I didn't see it all the way thru. This is a very entertaining movie in the tradition of entertaining historical movies like Lawrence of Arabia, Saving Private Ryan, Ghandi, et al. Not that this is of the same caliber as it was a low budget I guess. This has a great story, likable characters, nice acting and nice action. I'd read the novel this was based on and knew what was coming but still enjoyed the evolution of the plot. Good for kids to see and in fact good for anyone. This tells the fictional story of the last legion of Rome, protecting the Emperor, a young boy, who has to flee to Britain where the 9th Legion - still supposedly intact - is based. It ends with a fine battle and Excalibur with back-story fully revealed. Didn't you ever wonder how it got into the stone? Colin Firth is the central Roman who seems pretty wooden most of the time but is helped a lot by Ben Kinsley and a very beautiful Indian actress - and a great performance by the child. Get it and watch it.