Doesn't add up

Rating: 5/10 (18 October 2017)

The infant emperor of Rome turns to a faithful legionnaire to rescue him from captivity and assist his flight to a far off land ...
The story is based on a novel, which I bet was plenty fat. There is a huge amount of history and incident packed into a very slim 105m run time, to the point where our heroes survey a snowy Alpine pass for a moment before a map-montage of Transalpine Gaul flashes up to represent their epic journey to Britannia, where they conveniently step to shore from a boat. And it turns out this is a prequel to a very famous myth, promoted to the status of legend by its Roman associations.
So the story is hugely ambitious but with only a fraction of the resources needed to deliver a satisfying production. At least that's the way it feels, yet it has a stellar cast and a huge budget. And the script is by a renowned playwright, and some of the locations are interesting (especially the recreation of the Isle of Capri). Something doesn't add up.
It's not just that the dialogue is painfully plain, but the editing and writing keeps hurrying us along through what should be a fascinating land of oddities and magical encounters. For some reason the story is coy about magic, only hinting that it's anything more than a clever hoax, and the climactic battle is extras in a field spinning and kicking and roaring, while the showdown with the nemesis opens with a "startled!" sound effect as a little girl looks around and ... he's there! Just bizarrely bad. I imagine the screenplay came in at 180 pages, and the producer said, "Great - cut it in half. With a sword."
The cast do OK with stiff lines, and the actress with the amazing blue eyes has less difficulty convincing us she's the unlikeliest all-action knife twirler than that she enjoys any chemistry with the glum leading man. The music is lavish orchestral stuff, but no big deal.
Overall: Interesting concept, underwhelming delivery.