Henry Saw: Centurion

An entertaining, if forgettable, historical action film from director Neil Marshall...

Centurion, currently available via cable On Demand, and also coming to theaters near you, is a perfectly enjoyable romp. Directed by the man who made the nearly perfect horror film The Descent, Centurion more closely resembles his other films Dog Soldiers and Doomsday, but is a definite improvement on those pictures. Centurion is easily Marshall's second best film, is very capably made, and entertained me both times I watched it on my TV.

Pathé Productions' plot description: AD 117. The Roman Empire stretches from Egypt to Spain, and East as far as the Black Sea. But in northern Britain, the relentless onslaught of conquest has ground to a halt in face of the guerrilla tactics of an elusive enemy: the savage and terrifying Picts. Quintus Dias (Fassbender), sole survivor of a Pictish raid on a Roman frontier fort, marches north with General Virilus' (West) legendary Ninth Legion, under orders to wipe the Picts from the face of the earth and destroy their leader Gorlacon. But when the legion is ambushed on unfamiliar ground, and Virilus taken captive, Quintus faces a desperate struggle to keep his small platoon alive behind enemy lines. Enduring the harsh terrain and evading their remorseless Pict pursuers led by revenge-hungry Pict Warrior Etain (Kurylenko), the band of soldiers race to rescue their General and to reach the safety of the Roman frontier.



Centurion is hardly a work of art. It's simplistic, fairly simple minded, and never pretends to be anything but an action film. Though led by a truly gifted actor in Michael Fassbender, the movie is happy to revel in its ultra-violence and simplistic plotting, in order to present the most exciting product Marshall can provide. As an action movie it works quite well. The fight scenes are all exciting, and aside from a muddled concluding sequence, all quite easy to follow. Centurion balances a relatively light-hearted tone, Marshall knows what kind of movie he is making, with an appropriate level of semi-serious gravitas. In this vein, Dominic West hits the perfect notes as an unconventional general in the Roman army.



I really enjoyed Centurion. It's far from flawless, and hardly adds anything new to the genre, but it is a fun way to pass the time. Relatively well directed, solidly acted, and decently choreographed...Centurion is worth a watch.

Grade: B

Best Scene: The escape scene