Toga Epic, Short on Story, Long on Sincerity

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2007)

THE LAST LEGION, apparently based on the novel of the same name by Valerio Manfredi and cut and pasted together as a screenplay by Jez Butterworth, Tom Butterworth, Carlo Carlei and Peter Rader, may come across as a rather under-budgeted film as directed by an earnest Doug Lefler, but it does seem to have heart. The scenery is terrific and the cast consists of some of the better actors on screen who seem to have taken on this project out of respect for Lefler. It is entertaining but hardly deep.
Based partly on history, the story begins with the short reign of 12-year-old Caesar Romulus Augustus (Thomas Sangster) just days before the Goths overthrown the city of Rome. Under the protection of Aurelius (Colin Firth) and Demetrius (a buffed up and solid Rupert Friend!) and after the death of his parents, the young Caesar takes to the hills only to be captured and sentenced to isolation on Capri with his trusted teacher and adviser Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley of course). So far so true. From here however we begin the struggle for finding troops to re-take Rome and end up in Britannia, the home of the last legion of Roman soldiers. Along the way the escaping group is joined by a Mira (Aishwarya Rai), a beautiful 'soldier' from Constantinople and all manner of Goths and turncoat Romans (John Hannah, Iain Glen, Peter Mullan, Owen Teale, Harry Van Gorkum, James Cosmo, et al), but once in Britannia their struggles are rewarded by finding the sword of Caesar that saves the day and becomes embedded in a stone and renamed Ex Caliber. And oh yes, Ambrosinus stays alive through the years to become Merlin, the one who now advises King Arthur as a child who will successfully pull the sword from the stone! There is a sincerity of style here and a group of fine actors who seem like they are enjoying their holiday and that feeling extends to the audience. Keep expectations low and the film will provide a satisfying evening's entertainment. Grady Harp