Seen it, choked on it, don't buy it

Rating: 3/10 (2 November 2007)

It's a shame that this movie leaves so much to be desired. The backstory could have worked but the movie has too many flaws to deliver a convincing narrative. The historic setting is a big letdown. First, despite what some foreposter might think reenactors would say about it, late imperial legions didn't look, fight or work that way, even more so were the Goths a far more sophisticated people than the Conan types portrayed here and I do not really know what to make of those Britons shown in the end of the movie.
I guess up to Capri the movie could have worked as a lighthearted action flick, but on what basis a Roman general concludes he can find a loyal legion left in Britain when that island was evacuated by the Roman empire more than 60 years prior to preserve military assets is beyond me. That aside there is probably no other spot of the Western Roman empire farther away from Italy which is not a safe spot for a boy when everything including Italy is overrun by barbaric warlords.
The weird thing here is that the travel itself is completely omitted to have a weird last stand against a bad guy that is essentially introduced at last minute and had no relevance on anything that happened before so one can have an epic battle.
Overall the movie seems to me a complete kitbash production that lacks for me any indication anyone invested real sweat and consideration into the making of it which makes the 6 year production time sound like it was cooked on a very small flame because none could be actually bothered to try to make it work.
Basically this movie doesn't work on the very basic level and it seems to me anyone from the actors to the editing crew knew it and only invested as much work into it as their contracts required. The result is a rather bland, pale movie that hobbles from scene to scene to somehow reach a stuttering end I as a viewer stopped worrying about...