Not the greatest, but certainly worth your time

Rating: 8/10 (8 December 2008)

I remember seeing a poster for this film and thinking, "Hmmm...a Roman take on the Arthurian legend (yep, that's been done before) starring Colin Firth. Huh?" As much as I adore Colin Firth, he's never really struck me as the heroic sort, but he surprised me with this film. Having seen the special features on the DVD, they cast him in this unusual role on purpose because they were trying to go for something different. He was believable with the sword play and as a leader of men, but the inevitable "rally the troops" speech falls a little flat. Orlando Bloom and Cate Blanchett have given better versions of that speech than Colin Firth did at the end of this film.
I did enjoy the originality of the story in this film. As opposed to simply setting the Arthurian legend in the late Roman empire like "King Arthur", they actually told a whole prequel story with some actual, historical basis. That originality and the strength of the acting could have set it above the aforementioned film, but Last Legion's production values are sometimes lacking and while the story is original, the story telling leaves a little to be desired. There are three different villains that pop up during the course of the film and none of them are really given the time they need to seem truly threatening. Characters are also not given enough time to breathe and grow and relationships seem, therefore, to form almost out of thin air.
Those gripes aside, The Last Legion is an entertaining action film that leaves the blood and gore at a minimum making suitable for the whole family.