Not worth the time or money

Rating: 2/10 (31 May 2007)

For serious film lovers this is not the movie for you.
The plot is so conventional and predictable you will bore easily. Thomas Sangster puts in a satisfying performance as the lost boy who finds his way. Rai in a sum what unconventional role for herself is impressive yet contains flaws in her part which seems to be disjointed from the rest of the film. Colin Firth puts in an adequate performance as Aurelius, yet his character is conventional and has cinematic reminders of Clive Owen in King Arthur.
Those watching the movie for Firth as a sex god will be disappointed as he seems too old even to be ruggedly handsome.
The film itself has strong cinematic ties and reminders of King Arthur Kingdom of Heaven and even at some stages Troy yet with each one being cinematically worse than the original. The narrative itself is predictable with the ties to Caesar being the father of king Arthur evident half way through the movie.
The love interest between Rai and Firth is predictable even before we are shown that the mask warrior is in fact a women. Which again is another predictable part of the narrative. Another problem is that the narrative starts to fast as the audience is not emotionally attached to any character except Sangster and eventually Firth (built up gradually through the film). With the predictable narrative it bores the audience, which is contributed to with a disappointing climax, as although there is a masked villain he is easily defeated and through the entire film poses no convincingly serious threat.
The movie is suitable for young children in terms of captivating an audience, yet for adults and teens boring as hell.
2 outof 10 as although boring narrative and cinematography the actors atpoints are captivating.