It's pretty blah. Even McNulty can't liven this fucker up.

Marshall needs to go back to horror.

Centurion comes close to being a satisfying period piece but falls just a bit short. Michael Fassbender does fine in his lead role and Imogen Poots has a very good cameo. However, the script is taken over by not just a little bit of gore but way too much of it that it really doesn't fit the period feel. The plot is also fairly simple with the men returning home after war though it is a bit more interesting than others when one of the men kills the king's son and now there is a fight to find the men. If there wasn't too much time spent on worrying about gore, the script could of greatly improved. Fassbender and Poots are the only people that help this film from not falling flat and getting out of a couple troubles. Olga Kurylenko was alright with her mute character but there are problems with that character's development that her time on screen seems useless. It came close but in the end it's just average. **

An exciting, well-crafted, but wafer-thin film set in Roman Britain during the rule of Hadrian. Written and directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent), Centurion is a pure chase movie with almost no time for character development, historical detail, or even a theme.

But it is entertaining! The action, complete with swords, spears, axes, and blood, blood, blood, is crisp, well-staged, and boasts a few genuine "oh, gross!" moments. The stars, including the excellent Michael Fassbender, face several physical challenges, but remain untested otherwise. Fassbender broods as well as he swings his sword, but it's a shame Marshall couldn't find more for the gifted actor to do. I must say, I loathed the narration Fassbender is forced to recite. When the film slows down for a moment or two, Marshall fills the silence with Fassbender's character waxing poetic on "honor" and such. The writing here is so damn clichéd and cornball, and it doesn't suit the film's otherwise minimalist, unforgiving, basic-action feel.

Overall, it's hard to love Centurion (I watched it half an hour ago, and the several blue-tinted, blood-drenched set pieces are already beginning to blur in my mind), but it's also hard to fault it. Besides the misguided passges of ponderous narration, this is a lean, mean ride. An unambitious, quite eager-to-please treat for fans of historical action.

B

B


I am quite a fan of Neil Marshall. The Descent was one of the best and most shocking horror movies of the past decade. Dog Soldiers was low-key, but a rather interesting spin on the werewolf genre. Unlike many others, I really enjoyed Doomsday's genre-mixing, stealing-from-other-films wild nature. It was a fun blast.

So naturally, I had some expectations for Centurion of which some have been fulfilled - but not all of them. Let me start off by saying that Centurion is my least-liked Marshall film to date. That said, it is still fun to watch. What surprised me the most is how by-the-numbers it was for a filmmaker like Marshall. He really doesn't try anything new with the swords/sandals genre here. The spin on the story of the Ninth Legion was quite interesting, but that's about it. The only real Marshall trademark here was the surprising amount of bloody scenes for a film like this which was kind of fun to see. The cast fails to impress, though (that was one of the aspects where, for instance, Dog Soldiers and The Descent shined). Michael Fassbender is a decent action hero, but he doesn't leave a lasting impression. Everyone else is equally forgettable. Not bad, just not remarkable. It's not just the actors' fault, though, it is the way the characters are written. Olga Kurylenko's vengeful mute warrior certainly had potential, but that was wasted throughout the film. She did have some badass scenes, though.

Overall, it is a fun film to watch and certainly nothing I regret seeing. I would rewatch it too in near future which wouldn't be a bad thing since about half a year after my first viewing I forgot a lot of it anyway. Which does not necessarily speaks in this film's favor. Marshall, bring on Burst!

Marshall obviously loves his gore, but I don't think it was out of place. The whole premise is on 3,000 people getting slaughtered, and the few survivors escaping. There really isn't a whole lot more to Centurion, and it wobbles when it tries to inject a romantic sub-plot; Imogen Poots might be the most beautiful hermit in the history of cinema.

The intentions are good, and there is a lot to like, but it definitely isn't "great." The opening credits make this clear. We get these beautiful vistas of snowy mountains with the opening credits floating above. Which would be fine if they didn't choose such a garish, hard-to-read font.

But yeah, overall, good silly fun!