The last bastion of stupidity.

Rating: 2/10 (7 October 2013)

Really, really awful. I was stupid enough to expect some kind of adult drama and instead got the kind of sword and sorcery schlock that was old hat in 1986. Good god, what were Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth doing in this rubbish? Were they both between jobs in the same fortnight?
I could list the sins this film committed but I'll focus on just one: the female character. Oh dear, have we not yet had enough of female characters who are stronger, braver and more resourceful than any man ever was since the beginning of the world; who enter the film disguised as a man with face covered and are later discovered bathing naked in the local stream? Please, scriptwriters of the world--mercy! I hate to point this out, but not only is there a dearth of women in history noted for their sword fighting prowess but, dare I say it, women simply do not have the upper body strength of men and cannot outfight hulky villains non-stop for hours at a time. It's ridiculous, it's impossible-- please stop. And if by chance there were such women, whom history somehow overlooked, I'm sure they didn't look like highly made-up models with skimpy outfits and contemporary hairstyles that never get mussed in even the most violent encounters. Even by the standards of your typical teenage movie--and that's sinking pretty low--this is just impermissible.