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CENTURION |
After a series of stylized creature flicks (The Descent, Doomsday), director Marshall tries his hand at the swords-and-sandals genre with this bloody opus about the 2nd century war between the Romans and the Pict tribe.
While the road to Rome is paved with good intentions, this flick is a mess. The swooping camerawork and striking CGI backdrops are a moot point when so much of the profane, pulpy dialogue and wooden characters (with names like Titus Virilus) remind you of a thousand better Gladiator-style flicks.
And about the profanity: I had a hard enough time believing all the futher-mucking language on HBO’s Deadwood and that only took place 150 years ago. Hearing the same contemporary euphemisms come from 2nd century Romans is a few fiery arrows too far.
The movie’s violence is impressive: Centurion has beheadings, eviscerations, ripped entrails, chopped necks and geysers of blood, all in fetishistic detail. I will also give the movie props for having very cool closing credits, but my guess is that most people watching won’t make it that far. (Magnet Releasing)
— DENNIS WILLIS
