A mediocre historical action film. What's good: the action sequences are brutal and exhilarating. They play as a faithful recreation of what medieval soldiers must have experienced, caught in a storm of bruised bodies and clashing steel and spraying blood, and the violence feels "earned," not just the cartoon viscera of 300 or Immortals. Paul Giamatti at first seems miscast as the nefarious King John (Paul Giamatti...English king...), but delivers a fiery, complicated, and satisfying performance. In general, the performances are fine, with a host of British talents, including Charles Dance and Brian Cox, more than meeting the demands of their thin roles. What's not so good: Kate Mara is so out of place as the predictable damsel-in-distress who, as the rest of the characters descend into hunger and carnage, never has a hair out of place or a tear in her wardrobe. And the speed with which she falls for the protagonist, a brooding knight played with a perpetual scowl by James Purefoy, is hilarious. Horny bitch. The film also has a feel of a condensed epic or even a miniseries. Not to say it should be longer in its current form, but the storytelling is uneven, moving in strange stops and rushed starts.

C+