Centurion reviews 2

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/2010/08/september-movies-and-centurion-review.html

REVIEW – CENTURION

Directed by Neil Marshall, starring Michael Fassbender

I was fortunate that this was a free view on HDNet last Wednesday night, so I got to see it two days before its USA release.

Centurion is exactly what I expected. It’s not a grand epic nor does it break any new ground. However, it does contain some amazing scenery and cinematography, very bloody battles, and an interesting storyline. The story follows Centurion Quintus Dias (played by Fassbender) – his brigade is slaughtered by the Picts, and he escapes capture and joins with General Titus Flavius Virilus (played by the always cool Dominic West) and the 9Th legion. When the general’s troops are ambushed, Dias must lead the seven survivors back home.

The Scottish landscape is incredible! It’s as much a character in the story as are the actors. Everything feels very realistic – the Picts are not supernatural, just people defending their land. And in the middle of bloody war was an aspect I was not expecting… Can’t tell you or I’d spoil the movie!

If you’re into medieval battles and suspense, this movie is for you! Again, nothing that will knock your socks off, but it’s an enjoyable movie.

Enjoy your popcorn!
Posted by Alex J. Cavanaugh at 7:51 AM

http://atnzone.com/nz/2010/08/29/movie-review-centurion/

By Debbie Lynn Elias, Film Critic - August 29, 2010
Movie Review: CENTURION
Movie Review: CENTURION
Categories: Featured Articles, Movie Reviews, Movies | no responses

The Ninth Roman Legion is legendary. Their bravery. Their brutality. Their superiority. A true fighting machine with cunning and strength. Centurions all. Raised in 65 BC in Spain, Julius Caesar first commanded the Legion in 61BC, bringing them to Gaul in several years later when they were a commanding presence during the Gallic Wars. Although Caesar disbanded the Legion after his final victory during an African campaign in 46 BC, after his death, Octavian recalled the veterans and they once again took their place as a vital force in Rome’s conquest of the world, fighting in Macedonia, Actium, Spain, Germany and ultimately Britain. But the 9th Legion “fell off the map” in the 1st Century AD after beginning to suffer some staggering battle losses…losses which never sat well in Rome. During this time there were also people known as the Picts who lived above Hadrian’s wall in Northern Britain in what is now Scotland. Equally as brave and brutal as the Romans, they were outside the domain of Rome and intended to stay that way, something that displeased the Empire. Although no written recordation, stories have long been told about what happened to the 9th Legion when it suddenly “disappeared” after venturing north into the Caledonian mountains in its efforts to gain a stronghold over the Picts.

For writer/director Neil Marshall, this is the stuff that dreams are made of - especially when growing up at Hadrian’s Wall, and having a lifetime to play “war” in his mind, wondering “what if” the Picts ambushed the Legion and one lone man survived. The result is CENTURION. Epic, exhilarating, thrilling. Comminus certamen (grab those Latin dictionaries boys & girls). Magnificent expansiveness. Man against man. Man against nature. The will to survive. Bloodletting and some of the finest battle sequences you will ever see on film. Oh yeah, and a very buff Michael Fassbender and Dominic West. What is not to love about this film???

General Virilius has the daunting task of leading the 9th Legion deep into the north, exterminating and eliminating anything and anyone that tries to stop them. This is the final foothold, the crowing glory for Rome should he succeed in his mission. Fresh off a strong of victories, Virilius and his men are ready to finish conquering the world and go head to head with the Picts. Deemed as nothing but savages, Virilius sees this as a relatively easy battle, especially when he is given Etain, a Pict huntress with tracking skills of a wolf. Although Pict, she seeks to serve Rome and has done so in the past.

As the Legion marches toward the Pict village intent on executing one of their patented surprise attacks, the tables turn when the Picts attack the Romans. Someone has betrayed the Empire! Emerging from the darkness of night and the wooded region like thieves in the night, the Picts are relentless in their slaughter of the Romans. Using precision military tactics, the Legion tries to hold its line, but is over-powered by the elements of surprise, tact, cunning, superior geographic position and the shear brutality of the Picts. Fireballs roll from the forest, breaking the line, allowing for Picts to flood in. With madness in their eyes and blood in their hearts, the Picts slice, dice, pierce, decapitate in hand to hand combat and on horseback. The bloodletting is endless. The resulting carnage unfathomable.

But surviving this slaughter is Centurion Quintus Dais and a few other lone soldiers - some a bit braver than others - and a captured General. Determined to free Virilius, Dais and company launch a rescue mission, a mission that backfires, sending the Centurions on a flight for their lives. Realizing they must find a way south to return to other Legions, Centurion Dais must first lead his rag tag band of warriors into the northernmost regions of the Inverness and backtrack, hoping against hope to elude the Picts who are hot on their trail with huntress Etain in the lead. Who will survive? Who will avenge?

For most of you, your first introduction to Michael Fassbender was probably in “Brothers in Arms” or “Inglorious Bastards.” Seems that being a man in uniform suits Fassbender and here as Centurion Quintus Dais, he never looked better. Dynamic, forceful, powerful, he brings a confident life-threatening urgency and emotion to the performance that keeps you on the edge of your seat, making you hold your breath in fear for Dais. Brilliantly done. When I talked to Fassbender right after filming, he raved about the experience. “This was the hardest I have ever worked in a film, but the most fun I’ve ever had.” And although he “got to ride horses and play with swords”, Fassbender was very disgruntled that there were many stunts that Marshall wouldn’t let him do. “He gets a bit carried away sometime. He’s very enthusiastic. He wanted to jump off the cliff into the river. We literally had to hold him back because I’m sure he would have done it. He did everything else himself. He did go in the river and he was running topless through the snow. But we couldn’t let him jump off the cliff.” Axelle Carolyn, who plays Pict warrior Aeron, regales that “Fassbender wasn’t allowed to go any faster than trotting and he spent so much time complaining that ‘I need to gallop, I just need to gallop, I can do it’ that at the end of it they managed to get one day of insurance for him, just for him to go and gallop.” A love fest for Fassbender, Marshall does say, “He is also incredibly annoying because he is so good at everything.”

The real casting gem is Olga Kurylenko as Etain? She is incredible. For a character who does not speak, Kurylenko spoke enough words with her physical performance to fill the terrain from Rome to Northern Scotland and the farthest western reaches of the Roman Empire. She gives Etain a ferocity that explodes on screen beyond anything I have ever seen, be it with a male or female actor. Ferocious and barbarous.

Dominic West is everything that a Roman general should be. As Virilius, he is strong, rugged, handsome, commanding. I can easily see him standing shoulder to shoulder with Julius Caeser himself. And Marshall looked no further than wife Axelle Carolyn to play Pict warrior Aeron. “ I loved the fact that it was something so unusual to do as an actress, to get the opportunity to play something so outrageously brutal and physical.”

“When you grow up in the Northeast of England, your school trips are to Roman forts and Hadrian’s Wall. Roman history all around you.” Add to this a father who is a history nut and a movie buff, and for Marshall, “I guess watching all of that meld into one idea. Finally I heard about the myth of the 9th Legion.” The authenticity of this film is unbelievable, especially given the low budget. “We did what we could with what we had. We made sure that if the facts were there, we used them, and in other cases, especially where the Picts were involved having to fill in all the blanks because there’s no recorded history for them.” Axelle Carolyn expounds “there’s no recorded history for them. They didn’t write or if they did, they wrote on something that hasn’t survived. So all we have is what the Romans told us.” Marshall’s script and the interloping of dialogue and dialect between the archaic and mannered and profane 21st century is genius, evoking the strength and emotion of the time, but adding some light comedic moments when appropriate. Characters are dynamic and true to history and myth but humanized with flaws that can affect

Instrumental in bringing the epic vastness of CENTURION to life is the cinematography of Sam McCurdy and editing of Chris Gill. Having worked with McCurdy on “The Descent”, “Sam and I were discussing how we were going to shoot this film for at least 2 years before we ever got near making it. We got into discussions should we shoot it on Super 8 or 16mm or digital or whatever and how we were going to make it look. I insisted that we would shoot in the rain, in the snow. This is as a far from filming in a green screen studio as you can get.” Working with intimate introspective moments of characters, McCurdy is then given the freedom of unparalleled expansiveness of shooting in 18 degree weather in the Inverness Mountains to help tell this majestic story resulting in a grandeur and vastness that mirrors Caesar’s own words. The imagery is powerful, fueling the energy and survivalist instinct of our Centurions. Like a perfectly blended cup of coffee, Marshall and crew really conveyed COLD to the point that the visual stirs the physical effect within one, keeping the film grounded and adding a touch to the “mythological” lore of the Roman 9th legion and the Picts. “I didn’t want them to have to pretend to shiver. It’s going to distract them from giving me the performance I need. I really wanted them to be cold.”

Although nor working prior with Gill, “he has a real feel for this. His editing is so extensive. He nailed it.” High praise coming from a director who marks this as the first time he hasn’t edited his own work. Editing battle sequences as here is not an easy job and Gill just goes for the jugular, hitting the nail on the head (in more ways than one) every time. A true master of his craft.

Surprisingly, battle choreography was not that difficult. “What we struggled against was time and money to have thousands of extras that we would have liked to have had. We only had a couple hundred extras. It was a matter of placing them to fill the frame and make it look like the rest were off camera.”

One has to wonder what Neil Marshall dreams about at night. Several years ago he gave us the wonderfully inventive and frightening “The Descent” and now with CENTURION he has found more ways of decapitation and blood-letting than you can shake a stick out. PHENOMENAL. For Marshall, “It’s a challenge to come up with new ways of dispatching people. And when I was filming, I was out to make it more interesting. I have a lot of fun with that.” What most don’t know is that the Romans themselves were very brutal killers, something that Marshall “wanted to be very honest about with this film. I didn’t want to hold back. And I like the idea that the Romans and the Picts were about as brutal as the other but were also capable of heroic deeds as well. Some it was constructing it as you go along. I think the first kill that I make is the guy ringing the bell, and I had this idea that I’d like to see the guy get shot in the back of the head with the arrow while ringing the bell. That came out organically as we were shooting it.” Another favorite idea of Marshall’s emerged during the editing process. “Because it was at night, we could have flaming arrows and all these sparks fly off and it looks great.” According to wife Carolyn, “I’m sure he would have had some human torches if he could have.” One of my personal faves is a sequence involving a row of decapitated heads on spears which, as it turns out, are heads of actors in Marshall’s previous films.

Kudos to prosthetic designer Paul Hyett who went through 200 liters of blood during filming and countless “heads and body parts”. “[He] has this truck full of bits and body parts and heads that he cast for previous films.” And as for make-up, that of the Picts is stunning. Just think Klingons on Earth. And with the intention of the make-up was to make the Picts look fierce, according to Carolyn, “I felt like the Predator. I loved it.”

The icing on the cake, Ilan Eshkeri’s score catapults the film to an even higher level of excellence.

CENTURION. Riveting. Pulsating. An action packed Roman thrill ride from start to finish.

Quintais Dais - Michael Fassbender
General Virilius - Dominic West
Etain - Olga Kurylenko

Written and directed by Neil Marshall.

http://ny-wisdom.livejournal.com/97543.html

8/29/10 04:58 pm

Ten Statements About....CENTURION

1) Even though most people would write this off as a 300 rip-off, and it is based on a somewhat dubious historical incident (the end credits refer to it as a '2000 year old legend), Marshall is unapologetic about where his inspiration lies--just as Doomsday was his fusion of Escape From New York and The Road Warrior, this is his ancient British take on Walter Hill's Southern Comfort. He even thanks Hill in the acknowledgements....

2) Apparently, Imogen Poots (still the most unfortunately named actress ever, and prolly will remain so unless one emerges named Evelyn Farts) was cast out of the Pict village not for being a witch, but for discovering modern day cosmetics....

3) Now having seen her as main villian Etain, I have to say I like Olga Kurylenko better when she doesn't have to talk. Or pout. Or do much other than beat people up and stab them through with a big pointy iron spear. You can almost see Etain being the ancestor of Doomsday's Drop Dead Girl.

4) Even though Marshall favors lots of quick cuts in his action scenes, I appreciate the fact that he doesn't just go all-in with the shakey-cam.

5) Wow...seeing Noel Clarke as one of the Legionnaires is kinda disconcerting. All I could think during the action sequences was 'wow, Mikey can haul ass.'

6) I think that Marshall is very much aware of the parallels this story has to some of the situations our troops overseas are going through each day....but he doesn't draw attention to it.

7) I can just picture how there was pressure on Marshall to give us a happy, happy ending--but even though Michael Fassbinder's Quintus does have a happy ending with Poots' Arianne, the bitterness of how he gets there resonates with the audience long after that kiss fades from memory.

Thankfully, this is a historical film where people actually talk like historical personages--no modern day speech here, thank God.

9) For a film full of blood and gore and hacked off stuff, it's gorgeously shot, utilizing Scotland to its fullest effect. Its natural beauty acts as a counterpoint to the carnage that occurs within its borders.

10) Whether he intended it that way or not, the line about Hadrian's Wall is amazingly funny.

Overall...better than Doomsday, but not as good as his two horror films, this is still an effective historical adventure tale with a very dark center. I'll still follow Marshall into his next movie.

This was the first time in a long time where I went to the Angelika Film Center to see a movie (really; the last movie I went to see there was Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer). A serious bit of culture shock, as I was treated to an actual waiting room to relax in before the auditorium was ready, no stupid Firstlook bullshit, and an actual short film to watch...my only complaints were the non-stadium style seats and the annoying ten-minute loop of music that played the same song by JP, Chrissie and The Fairground Boys three times, reminding us each time it was based on Let The Right One In...

http://critexts.blogspot.com/2010/08/centurion.html

Sunday, August 29, 2010
CENTURION
A superpower invades a distant undeveloped land and is continually
thwarted by guerrilla fighters whose unconventional savagery flummoxes
the superpower's ordinarily triumphant troops. As one soldier puts it,
"This is a new kind of war, a war without honor, a war without end."
No, not Afghanistan: this is 2nd century Northern England, where the
Picts are resisting the Roman Empire with great success. Actually, I'm
not certain the filmmakers were intent on drawing parallels with
modern times -- because after a suggestive set-up, most of the rest of
the film is pure action. And what action! Some of the best hand-to-
hand combat scenes ever filmed, with a gore factor that uses blood in
an almost Abstract Expressionist way: swords, arrows and lances
inflict wounds that explode and splatter like a Pollack. The period
feel comes and goes -- now archaic, now modern -- but this is bang-up
entertainment for sure. -- Jeff Schultz
Posted by Alan Yudman at 7:19 AM

http://greggoeshollywood.blogspot.com/2010/08/what-old-stuffy-white-men-think_27.html

Friday, August 27, 2010
What Old Stuffy White Men Think: Centurion
Posted by Greg at 11:49 PM
The positive reaction to this weekend's release of The Last Exorcism reminds me of another mainstream horror flick that critics actually enjoyed: The Descent. That film was directed by Neil Marshall, a gore-obsessed director who has parlayed the success of the The Descent into all his other auteur inclinations. It has turned out well. His spectacular Doomsday spectacularly flopped back in March of 2008, but that hasn't stopped producers from making the same mistake twice.

His latest film, Centuion, transplants Doomsday's overly tattooed warriors to the last days of the Roman Empire. There a few signs that this film will turn out as badly Doomsday did. For one, despite being released now, it's been showing in Europe for some time now, and not to a very enthusiastic response. And two, it's been available on-demand for the last four weeks. Alongside tons of other little movies that are happy for the exposure and aren't expected to make much money.

But that has stopped critics from giving it same mild praise that they've given Marshall's other films. John Defore of the Hollywood Reporter asserts that the film "delivers some large-scale action but plays almost like a Roman-era Western in its depiction of a few soldiers trying to get home alive after the slaughter of their comrades." Andrew O'Hehir of Salon is even more pleased, saying that the movie "offers riveting storytelling, gorgeous cinematography and scenery, loads of gore, and a politically complicated history lesson." But in an effort to bring the room down, Scott Tobias of The Onion claims that Centurion packages "little beyond viscera for its own sake, without anything like the bold abstraction of Valhalla Rising." A very apt comparison, nerd!

http://www.411mania.com/movies/film_reviews/150937

Centurion Review [2]
Posted by Joseph Lee on 08.30.2010

You know what they say. No guts, no glory.

Starring:
*Michael Fassbender as Quintus Dias
*Dominic West as Titus Flavius Virilus
*Olga Kurylenko as Etain
*Riz Ahmed as Tarik
*Noel Clarke as Macros
*Liam Cunningham as Ubriculius
*JJ Feild as Thax
*Dimitri Leonidas as Leonidas
*David Morrissey as Bothos, a soldier of the Ninth Legion.

Story: A splinter group of Roman soldiers fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is decimated in a devastating guerrilla attack.

Trivia: The Pictish spoken in the film is actually Gaelic. Pictish was related to the Brythonic languages and may have been closer to Welsh. All that remains of the Pictish language are some place names.

It's no big secret that I am a really big fan of Neil Marshall, and have been since his first film Dog Soldiers back in 2002. From there he continued with The Descent, one of the best horror films of the last decade. Even his post-apocalyptic film Doomsday, while flawed was still an entertaining effort. Now comes his latest, Centurion, a war film between the Ancient Romans and the Picts, a group in Northern Britain whose land the Roman Empire is trying to conquer. Even though this is far removed from Marshall's horror start, you can still see he hasn't lost his flair for violence.

As I mentioned, the Romans were trying to conquer the Picts. They're not successful. In fact, they're decimated within the first fifteen minutes in two graphic battles in which men are brutally decapitated, gored and sliced open. The Picts manage to capture the General (played by Dominic West of The Wire fame) and slaughter all but a small group of Romans after the scout assigned to the group Etain (played by former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko) betrays them. These aren't spoilers, they happen early and set up the rest of the film.

The group of survivors are led by a centurion named Quintus Dias(played by Michael Fassbender, last seen in Inglorious Basterds), who is the sole survivor himself of a previously massacred Roman fort. They don't have a mission anymore, except to save their general and survive while trapped hundreds of miles in enemy territory. It's like Behind Enemy Lines, only set in 117 A.D. They have to brave the elements as well as being hunted by their enemies if they ever hope to make it back to the Roman Empire alive.

There's a big problem with this scenario. We aren't really given any reason to care about the protagonists. The characters are written to be bland stereotypical soldier types and have no real personality, which makes it hard to care what happens to them. Not only that, but they are being hunted after they invaded someone else's territory, as well as for reasons of vengeance given the history of violence among Roman soldiers. Maybe these men are good and loyal to each other, but they are still being punished for trying to conquer another group of people.

Uninteresting or not, the actors do deliver the best performances they can, under the circumstances. Both Dominic West and Michael Fassbender have been in war films before, and together were in 300 (which contained just as much bloodshed but had interesting characters to go with it). They know how to play a soldier and while these characters are different than others they've played, they still do a good job. West plays almost a "lite" version of King Leonidas from that movie, complete with gruff beard. Olga Kurylenko isn't given any lines to speak (her character is a mute) so she has to let her eyes and body language convey her emotions. We buy it. And he doesn't do much, but it is nice to see Liam Cunningham back in a Marshall film.

With average acting and a dull script, it all depends on the action sequences to make this worth watching. Even though there is no emotional attachment, the violence is what you expect. There are a lot of nasty kills and one or two interesting set pieces that make the film pick up at least a few times. The massacre of the Roman troops in the beginning of the film is a gritty battle that does not shy away from the gore or brutality. It's even well-choreographed, letting us have a good idea of what is going on (something other war films in recent memory seem to forget to do).

When all the blood has been spilled and the final frames are over, Centurion ends up being a disappointment. As a fan of the director's prior work, you can't help but feel that way considering everything that's come before. But we all make mistakes and Marshall's career is just beginning. There's plenty of time for him to deliver more entertaining films in the future.


The 411: While Centurion delivers a bloodbath that fans of violence can certainly appreciate, it doesn't deliver the characters and sense of fun entertainment we've come to expect from Marshall's films. This film is dull and lifeless, even with the brutal violence. The writing is uninspired and doesn't compliment the action. Centurion aspires to be bigger than it is and as a result falls short of the expectations of Marshall's usual quality.

Final Score: 5.5 [ Not So Good ] legend

http://letmebreakitdown4you.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/centurion/

Centurion
August 30, 2010
by letmebreakitdown4you

Dominic West is awesome and should be in way more movies.

The plot of this film is that Quintas Dias (Michael Fassbender) gets captured by the Picts… which are people who live in Northern Britain… back in the day. He escapes and joins up with the 9th legion which is led by General Virilus (Dominic West). Now these 2 badasses team up and lead the legion into a trap and everyone dies except a couple of dudes. These guys run around the north evading patrols and escaping capture. Virilus is a prisoner and in a rescue attempt one idiot kills the Pict leader’s kid. No one is happy about that. So they swear a blood vengeance blah blah… murderousness ensues. The Pict hunting them is turbo hot Olga Kurylenko.

So no one yells ‘Sparta’ in this movie which I’m sure a lot of people found disappointing… I know I did. The characters in this movie are reasonably cookie cutter versions of someone you’ve seen before. This movie literally brings nothing new to the table. That being said, I didn’t mind watching it. I like West, Fassbender and Kurylenko. This movie is an action film more then anything. I think they’ve tried to put some dramatic spin on it but that’s just the wrong way to promote it. It is similar in a lot of ways to King Arthur… I don’t know if anyone actually watched that movie but this is pretty much the same thing. That movie has way more action in it though… and a really good cast… check it out. Anyway that movie sucked ass.

This movie looked good… but everything was very unoriginal. I think that if you want to see this movie you need to lower you expectations. It’s like online dating. It looks really good in the ads and has some impressive points but when it comes down to it you know if it was that good it wouldn’t be where it is. In this case an end of summer release. In the online dating case, dating online. Someone told me that like 1 in 10 relationships start from online dating… that’s crazy.

Back to the movie and away from my excellent analogies… check it out if you’re having a relaxed day… it is done better than King Arthur but not as good as Rome (the HBO show).

3/5

http://ifreemp3download.com/c/centurion-movie-review/

Centurion: Movie Review
Posted on August 30th, 2010 in C

Centurion: Movie Review
Centurion is director Neil Marshall’s fourth movie and my favourite of his so far. Centurion follows the story of the legendary Roman Ninth Legion who in 114 AD were in the Scottish Highlands during the invasion of Britain the legion find themselves in a war with the local Picts, the Celtic dwellers of the Highlands.

When their mission goes from bad to worse the Legion find themselves out of their element and now the hunted rather than the hunters. Michael Fassbender leads the cast of Centurion as Quintus Disa the only survivor of a Pict attack on a Roman garrison who finds himself saved by the Ninth Legion. Dominic West stars as the commander of the Ninth Legion who is given a Pict rebel scout Etain played by Olga Kurylenko who is mute and a fearsome warrior in her own right. Other cast members include Noel Clarke, David Morrissey, Dave Legeno and Imogen Poots, and everyone does a good job, Dominic West steals the show early on with his bravado laden Legion leader, and Olga Kurylenko has the look of a woman that could handle herself and she definitely has the physicality. Michael Fassbender inst even really the star of the movie until the second or third acts but does a good job with what he’s given.

Personally I liked Centurion, although I doubt everyone will, it’s not an epic movie but it is an interesting tale that has amazing breathtaking landscapes and a colour palette that would make any art director happy. Neil Marshall really is one of the better English directors out there, who consistently ups his game with every movie. It’s a shame Centurion really wasn’t promoted a bit better, I remember the pre release information and photos that were released and they didn’t do the final movie any justice.

Overall Centurion is a violent, graphic, tense and atmospheric movie that will no doubt appeal to anyone who liked any of Marshall’s previous movies and it has a very similar flow and overall themes and tone to it. It’s noepic, but then I really don’t like epic movies if you like fantasy, historical or just good action movies then you will no doubt get a real kick out of Centurion.

http://dontloseyourdayjob.com/2010/08/30/the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-centurion-movie-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-centurion-movie-review

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: ‘Centurion’ Movie Review

Film — August 30, 2010 at 10:00 — no comments

Clark Kent says: Michael Fassbender has been on a roll lately and it may be due to the response of the infinitely less cumbersome flick, ‘Centurion’. Is it worth spending you shillings on? More after the jump.

GOOD: ‘Centurion’ on paper sounds like another attempt at cashing in on the ’300,’ ‘Clash of the Titans,’ historical era flicks. Less CGI-stylized and better acted than their cinematic counterparts — Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, and Olga Kurylenko — give a far more entertaining interpretation than their big-budget brethren. Full of mano-a-mano action — writer-director Neil Marshall (The Descent) films the action beautifully combining the brutal and graphic with a narrative full of poetic prose. Fassbender’s supporting cast is full of sturdy British character players such as David Morrissey and Liam Cunningham. Audiences will appreciate the grit and nails approach Marshall takes in ‘Centurion’.

BAD: Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) is gorgeous in an ‘America’s Next Top Model: Greek Goddess Edition’ way but all the hair, eye shadow, and editing doesn’t cover her discomfort in front of the camera. From the displeasure she shows during the early brutal fighting scenes to her physical discomfort of horseback riding, Kurylenko has to warm-up to the idea of being a fierce part of the flick. Even during ‘Centurion’s’ quieter moments — the dialogue comes off as clunky and cliched.

UGLY: ‘Centurion’ is full of graphic violence, adventure, and pillages with heads stuck on pikes. Director-writer Neil Marshall’s outlook through the lens is grainy and distinctive — set to the color palette of a bruise. Savages are all around which make it hard to root for any one particular character and the action beats predictably. All in all, ‘Centurion’ is an entertaining outing from a director and cast who don’t need Greek gods to bless their success.

Clark Kent says: In other words… See It! Michael Fassbender should do more action flicks in the future. Check out the trailer and share your thoughts below:

http://turnoffyourcellphone.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/centurion/

Centurion

Neil Marshall, the director of the best horror film of the 00′s (The Descent) plus Michael Fassbender, one of the best young actors working today plus Dominic West, Det. McNulty from The Wire. How could you go wrong?

Well, you go wrong when you remember that while Marshall hit one out of the park with his spelunking terror he also embraced his love of cartoonish gore in the fun but very throw-away Doomsday. And I keep having to remind myself that Fassbender and West starred in 300. The above equation equals Centurion an utterly forgettable swords and sandals genre piece set in Roman occupied Britain that wastes the talent of all three. The script is full of banal clichés, the cinematography, while quite beautiful most of the time, cribs heavily from the Lord of the Rings trilogy (there were at least five instances of helicopter shots of dudes running through the rocky wilderness.) The characters are all cardboard cut-outs – none are fleshed out enough for you to care a lick when they get sliced, beheaded, disemboweled or stabbed in the cock while pissing off the side of a garrison wall.

Never ever piss off of the side of a Roman garrison wall.

My theater experience was quite unusual. For some reason I still cannot fathom this film didn’t play at the muliplex but rather at our local art-house chain Landmark Theater, the Kendall Cinema. Centurion stuck out like a sore thumb next to the usual latte-liberal fare (also playing yesterday night: the lesbian family comedy The Kids are All Right, the ballet drama Mao’s Last Dancer…you get the picture.) So the straight-faced cut ‘em up ultra-violence, not surprisingly, attracted a bit of a different element than usual. This was demonstrated about half-way through the film when one cantankerous patron (the type of middle aged dude I usually saw at the Kendall seeing a revival of A bout de Souffle or the newest Jim Jarmusch or Wes Anderson film) approached a woman a few rows in front of me and asked her to (to echo this blog’s name) turn off her cell phone. However, sitting directly in front of where this man stood was an early 30s meathead dude in a wife-beater who, immediately after this man spoke, turned around and yelled at the middle aged dude for apparently “sneaking up behind him.” The meathead stood up and faced the middle aged dude who said he wasn’t talking to him but to the woman with the phone. The meathead responded by saying “You better step away or I’ll show you what this movie’s all about.” The middle aged dude pulled out his cell phone and threatened to call 911.

Yes my screening of Centurion at the Kendall Cinema was inches away from being interrupted by a fist fight. At the end I’d almost have preferred that as I’m sure it would have proved significantly more entertaining than the film itself.

2.5 out of 5 stars.

http://www.movies.com/movie-reviews/centurion-review/jen-yamato/m1839

Jen Yamato
Centurion Review

Jen's Rating:
2.0

Let's go a-stabbin'!

Who's In It: Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, Olga Kurylenko, Imogen Poots, David Morrisey, Ulrich Thomsen, Riz Ahmed, Liam Cunningham, Noel Clarke, Demitri Leonidas, Peter Guinness, Axelle Carolyn, JJ Feild

The Basics: Nobody really knows what became of the Ninth Legion, a unit of Roman soldiers that disappeared in Britain around 117 A.D. -- but genre filmmaker Neil Marshall has a hunch! Could the entire legion, used as expendable pawns by empire-building bureaucrats, have been wiped out by the Pict tribe they were sent to subdue in ancient Scotland? Were the Picts, in fact, bloodthirsty, tattooed barbarians who raised hotties like Olga Kurylenko to be trident-wielding warriors? We may never know the true history, but at least we can revel in the bloody, fake movie history that is Centurion.

What's The Deal: Centurion may use real events as its jumping-off point, but Neil Marshall isn't much concerned with exploring the actual politics of Roman expansion and Pict resistance that possibly led to the mysterious extinction of the Ninth Legion hundreds of years ago. No, his primary objectives are to spill buckets of the red stuff (both practical and computer generated) and foster your budding man crush on Brit star Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, Fish Tank, Hunger) -- and to those ends, he succeeds.

Great! So What's The Problem? Marshall tries to elevate his slash-and-stab extravaganza above the B-movie that it is, when he should just revel in its glorious superficiality. The unnecessary framing device, the overly serious dialogue ("You're a politician. I'm just a simple soldier"), the obvious allusions to current wars, and the excessive voice-over narration about how the centurions are just pawns for The Man? Forget all that and focus on Centurion's strengths: namely, its countless sword fights, stabbings, decapitations, grimy man-on-man brawls, flaming arrows, ambushes, various sharp things used to kill and maim and torture, and all the squishy gore your heart desires.

Bond Girl Alert! Olga Kurylenko plays Centurion's femme fatale, a Pict warrior lady with kohl-rimmed eyes, Klingon hair, and a sadistic streak who never utters a single word because her tongue's been cut out. Like her fellow Picts, she's shrouded in magical mystery fog and recites spiritual incantations that appear to have supernatural powers (further contradicting the attempted historical realism of Centurion's setting and self-serious tone). She's Centurion's Mute-Magic Pixie Dream-Nightmare Girl, as hot as she is deadly and mad as hell. Watch your head when she wields an axe!

For A Better But More Artsy And Pretentious Period Battle Movie With Comparable Stabby Action And Dirty Manly Men: Watch Nicholas Winding Refn's latest, Valhalla Rising. It's as gory as Centurion, stars Mads Mikkelsen, and asks the pseudo-historical question, "What happened to the first Vikings who arrived in the Americas?"

http://perfectiris.com/centurion-2010/

Centurion (2010)
30/08/2010

The action is set in year 117 AD when the Roman empire was at war expanding, but they found some resistance because of the Picts in north. Quintus Dias is the only survivor of a Pictish raid on a Roman frontier fort and he joins the battle against Picts again, but they are betrayed by a Pict Woman Warrior, Etain (Olga Kurylenko – the last Bond girl). Then it all turns into a fight for survival for Dias and few of his men.
The end of the movie is a bit unexpected, but nicely built. Oh and all the fights are sooooo bloody! You can see blood splashing all the way so easily. I didn’t like that! It was too bloody for my taste
Other than that it was OK. Interesting cinematography and a different style

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/45561/centurion/

Centurion
Magnolia Home Entertainment // R // August 27, 2010
Review by Tyler Foster | posted August 27, 2010

I was let down by The Expendables, and not just because I wanted Scott Pilgrim to succeed at the box office. Despite promising a hard-hitting 1980's action throwback picture, Stallone meekly offered the same crap that every modern action film coughs up: quick cuts, shaky-cam, and terrible CG (in this case, all of the splatter, used to elevate the shot-as-a-PG-13 film to the R rating Stallone's audience wanted all along). Now, just two weeks later, Neil Marshall's Centurion arrives in theaters (and on VOD) offering everything Sly's film doesn't: fast-paced yet completely discernable action packing a brutal punch, with a pleasing mixture of solid (if noticeable) CG and practical effects to pull off the bloody, bloody battles. The fact that Marshall is also hawking an interesting take on medieval epics and a better clothesline story to hang it all on is just icing on the cake.

A 20-year war is coming to a head. The Roman army has been stopped dead in their tracks from conquering Northern Britain by a band of savages known as the Picts. Governor Agricola (Paul Freeman) is tired of fighting, and wishes to mount a full-force attack on the Picts and wipe them out once and for all. To complete this task, he chooses General Titus Virilus (Dominic West), and assigns him Pict traitor Etain (Olga Kurylenko) as a guide. In the woods, on the way to the battleground, Virilus encounters two things: Centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender), who has just escaped from the Picts' grasp, and a total ambush only a few steps behind. Once the dust has settled, only a tiny band of men remain, and Dias leads the charge, with the goal of rescuing Virilus and getting the group back to the nearest Roman base camp.

One of the most boring things about sword and sandal movies is the way we get to know about the characters and then the whole film ends in a giant battle, where most directors' attempts to remain focused on our heroes amongst the building, epic chaos is basically in vain. Marshall constructs Centurion backwards, opening with not one but two bloody, action-packed battles between Roman troops and Pict warriors, letting the audience sate their bloodlust early on, and building up Dias and his small party afterwards. The climactic final battle only takes place between a few key characters, but it's just as (if not more) exciting than seeing some giant, drawn-out beach scene where the audience's focus is hazy and it all becomes a mush of supposedly-exciting stuff happening (ahem).

I was one of the few to find some enjoyment in Marshall's last project, Doomsday, but this is a much better effort, presenting a director totally at ease with the material. When I say Centurion is "bloody", that might be an understatement. Limbs fly, eyes are gouged, chests are cut, and more, all with a light, almost effortless sense of motion. Fassbender fits right in, too, thoroughly blotting out any bad memories of his brief appearance in this summer's Jonah Hex. He's perfect for this kind of movie; just like in Basterds he exhibits the winning ability to flow between "B-action" and "Oscar reel" and make it look easy. Filling out his group, Marshall fills the rest of his stable with strong pinch-hitters like Liam Cunningham and David Morrissey, while star players West and Kurylenko make what impressions they can while still respectively played a kidnapped general who only appears occasionally and a mute tracker.

Does Centurion have anything to offer that viewers probably haven't seen before? Although I missed out on Gladiator, I'm still inclined to say "no". Does Centurion have much going on beneath the surface? Again, no; Marshall doesn't bring any "themes" or "psychoanalysis" to this blood-spattered table. Nonetheless, it's a fast and furious 97 minutes that delivers the goods with skill and panache at pretty much every opportunity the viewer could ask for. In a summer somewhat light on pure-enjoyment popcorn movies, Centurion is a refreshing blast of blood and sweat that practically demands you hit the theater and buy their biggest bucket of it. If you can still stomach it, that is.

http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2010/08/30/entertainment/doc4c7c75579f6ea170513290.txt

Movies: Broadsword flick 'Centurion' a bloody step down for 'Descent' director

Published: Monday, August 30, 2010

Michael Fassbender and Olga Kurylenko star in "Centurion," directed by Neil Marshall.

By R. Kurt Osenlund, The Good Life film critic

Movie Review: "Centurion," 3 stars (out of 5)

With 2005's “The Descent,” writer/director Neil Marshall delivered one of the best horror films of the last 10 years. The subterranean thriller – which sees a group of trapped female spelunkers square off against pasty-skinned monsters – is a triumph of story, craft, atmosphere and chills, and given the slim-pickings of the genre, some might even call it vital. (Others might reach for a similar adjective when discussing “Dog Soldiers,” Marshall's cult-fave debut.) “Centurion,” a son-of-“Gladiator” splatterfest oddly aimed at the arthouse, produces the opposite reaction. More akin to his 2008 misfire, “Doomsday,” Marshall's latest is a well-enough made clash-of-the-broadswords picture, but it reeks of inconsequence. Amidst all the amply distributed plasma and the Ridley-Scott-gunmetal-filter photography, you wonder: Why should I care about this movie?

Well, for one thing, it features Michael Fassbender, who after “Hunger,” “Inglourious Basterds” and “Fish Tank,” has become one of our most intriguing and in-demand international stars. With his period-friendly characteristics, his zero-percent body fat, and his skill at spouting soldiery dialogue in a scruffy-yet-dignified Euro accent, Fassbender is well-equipped for the swords-and-sandals hero role. But if the German-born Irishman is on the hunt for his very own “Braveheart” (or “Gladiator,” for that matter), he certainly hasn't found it yet. In “Centurion,” Fassbender portrays Quintus Dias, a Roman soldier caught behind enemy lines in Northern Britain in 117 A.D. Quintus is fierce and unyielding; he's loyal and noble; he's prosaic and two-dimensional. Never once is there the sense of wanting to raise your own broadsword and scream for Quintus's victory, much due to the fact that who he is and what he wants are very thinly answered questions.

After escaping the deadly clutches of the painted and fur-covered Picts, a brutal band of Celtic resistance fighters who stormed his outpost and slaughtered dozens, Quintus falls in with the Ninth Legion, the Roman legion known for its shadowy disappearance and another reason why we might give a damn about “Centurion.” Marshall, who for a while was working with the title “Ninth Legion,” has long been fascinated with the Ninth, and uses their legend as the through-line for his grumbly war story. He introduces General Titus Flavius Virilus (Dominic West), the hard-spoken commander of the Ninth, and Agricola (Paul Freeman), the Roman governor of Britain who orders the Ninth to take out the Empire-defying Pict “savages” for good. Things don't much work out that way, and Quintus winds up the Ninth's unlikely leader, guiding the handful of surviving members out of the bitter Scottish Highlands and evading the even bitterer Etain, the Picts' speecless, soulless, remorseless guerilla killing machine played by former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko (“Quantum of Solace”).

Marshall's commitment to accurately conveying the importance of the Ninth's uncertain history is weak. Understanding the broader concerns of the events on screen requires some post-film research, and even if it didn't, the movie should be able to sustain itself as thrilling arms-and-armor entertainment. It doesn't. A good hour passes before any suspense or excitement builds, and by that point it's very hard to forgive a film its trespasses. The director draws some convincing performances from his actors (especially Imogen Poots, who plays the pretty, banished Pict who gives sanctuary to Quintus and company), but he's not interested in assigning them truly compelling characters. What he is interested in is blood, and lots of it.

Gore galore is both the icky promise and roughest downside of “Centurion,” a sort of Scotland Battle-Axe Massacre where the only saturated color is red. There's gritty realism, there's stylized violence, and then there's the bloody glorification of violence for violence's sake. I'm all for a well-choreographed blood ballet, or a little bare-bones bone-breaking if it serves the story, but I can't abide the decisions Marshall makes, such as frequently, repeatedly cutting from stab to slice to slit to chop to beheading to dismembering to probably disemboweling. The excessive cuts to and from excessive cuts only minimally emphasize the fearsomeness of the Picts (who do most of the slicing and dicing), and they likely won't even sate bloodthirsty moviegoers, for rather than offering that certain perverse catharsis, the gruesomeness gets real redundant, real fast.

And gruesomeness isn't the only Marshall calling card to show up in “Centurion.” In concept, the film might be viewed as the more dedicated and expanded cousin of “Doomsday,” which Marshall dreamed up in connection to Hadrian's Wall – the very structure that figures prominently into the legend of the Ninth. One very certain theme to be found is the karmic repercussions of man's ruthless survival instincts, which surfaces here in a thread that calls to mind a pivotal part of “The Descent.” Then there's the familiar presence of primal women who kick butt, carried over from “The Descent” and “Doomsday” and channeled, with nasty vigor, into Etain, the trail-sniffing, spear-wielding, head-hunting villainess. They're provocative, Marshall's motifs, but they've seen better days.

The strongest attribute is the film's ultra-confident look, which boasts a notable brio that shines through the crimson spray and unimaginative blue-gray overlay. Sam McCurdy, the DP who's lensed all of Marshall's films, adapts beautifully to capturing majestic topography on a grand scale, and provides many a lush helicopter shot to give the movie the sweeping thrust it often needs. Unfortunately for us, Marshall, a filmmaker in a slump, is too often absorbed by another kind of thrust – that of blades into flesh.

* “Centurion” is now playing at The Ritz at the Bourse in Philadelphia and is also available via cable on demand.

http://middleofnowheremoviereviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/centurion.html

Monday, August 30, 2010
"Centurion"
Centurion - Written and directed by Neil Marshall, starring Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko, and Dominic West - Rated R

Like the poster promises, there is definitely blood...but little else.

It seems like it's been awhile since a nice, bloody sword and sandals movie came out, so I decided to check out Centurion this past weekend. It opened in a few theatres in the bigger markets, but I was able to check it out via Amazon On Demand, where it is available for rent. I'm not necessarily a major fan of the genre, though I do enjoy some brutal Roman vs. Barbarian action from time to time. It also helps that the film stars Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko, and Dominic West. It helps even more that the film is directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent, Doomsday).

Centurion takes place in the second century A.D. The Roman Ninth Legion is busy with a Pict rebellion, and things aren't going so well. I want to explain further, but I feel like it might spoil it a bit if I do. So be aware, the rest of the paragraph may contain slight SPOILERS. The movie really turns into a survival film after the first act. Michael Fassbender plays Quintus, one of very few survivors left after a fairly entertaining Pict ambush. Quintus and the others spend the majority of the movie on the run, but they do stop here and there to engage in brutality.

If all you're looking for is action, then Centurion should please you. If you're looking for interesting characters and a compelling story, you may end up a bit on the disappointed side, as I was. But let's stick with the action for now. This film definitely brings the blood and the dismembered body parts. Neil Marshall is obviously a fan of spraying blood and I applaud him for that. The action itself, though, seems a bit weak at times. Battles are not staged so much as they are thrown together. You don't see any elaborate battle movements or anything, and that's fine, I suppose, but it would be nice to see two warriors actually have a fight of sorts. Instead, the battles are quick cuts of hardcore violence. No fighting skills are shown, just a slash of a sword and a fountain of blood...maybe a severed limb. I like blood and all, but it would be better if the blood served more as a payoff for a well choreographed battle and less a signifier that action was taking place.

But I didn’t watch this just for blood. I have become quite the fan of Michael Fassbender after his appearance in Inglourious Basterds and his very impressive turn in Hunger. His appearance here led me to believe that this might be a film with an interesting character in it. Unfortunately, it appears that he took the role so he could play soldier, which isn’t to say that his performance is off, it’s just that I didn’t care about his character at all. I was much more interested in Dominic West as General Virilus, though the role was woefully secondary. Olga Kurylenko did what she could as a speechless female warrior and her character’s story was actually much more interesting than the “hero’s” story.

I put “hero” in quotations because this is one of those films that doesn’t really make the case for either side to be heroic. Maybe that’s the point of the film, that everyone is justified in their call to war. But that didn’t really work for me since the Romans were speaking English and received the majority of the screen time while the Picts spoke through subtitles and had very few non-combat/torture scenes. It doesn’t help that the Roman Empire is typically portrayed (and rightfully so for the most part) as an oppressive power. Couple that aspect with the dull main character and I had almost no interest in the outcome of this film.

The other disappointing aspect of Centurion was that it was written and directed by Neil Marshall, a director I have been expecting great things from but who seems to be going backwards. I enjoyed Dog Soldiers and thought that The Descent was great. But Doomsday was uneven at best and now Centurion proves to be his weakest effort yet. I still have hope left for Marshall, but he needs to break out of his funk soon. The guy can still shoot a film with skill. If he could just slow down the action editing and maybe take on a writing partner I think he could produce some very entertaining fare.

I truly wish I could recommend Centurion, but unless you just really need a blood fix, you’re better off watching Gladiator again. I guess it’s worth a look when it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray, when it will be cheaper than the On Demand version I watched. There are bits and pieces of entertainment in this film, it’s just a disappointment overall.
Posted by Eric Harris at 7:40 PM

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2010/08/31/movie_stars/

Centurion You want a movie in which starving second-century Romans dine on the contents of a dead elk’s stomach to be equally ravenous. But this chase film written and directed by the atypically uninspired Neil Marshall (“The Descent’’) is a tame venture. Oh, there is blood and gore. The profanity is delightful. And the general atmosphere is grim. It just isn’t terribly rousing. With Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko, and Dominic West (97 min., R) (Wesley Morris)

3.5/5

http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_reviews_8400.htm

Centurion (2010) Movie Review
9 out of 10 Skulls
Written by: thefinalsolution

Centurion is lean and hungry stuff, as efficient in its story telling as in its brutality. Set in 117AD, Neil Marshall's (Dog Soldiers, The Descent)story pits the Roman empire against the guerrilla Picts, who have halted the Roman invasion so much so that Rome decides on a last push. To the organized troops of Roman centurions, the Picts with their unorthodox techniques have the upper hand, and with the help of Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) who has escaped from the Picts, to show them the way to their hidden camp. Led by General Virilus (Dominic West) and guided by a Pict prisoner and warrior named Etain (Olga Kurylenko – who is menacing without ever saying a word).

As they usually do, things go horribly wrong when the legion is ambushed and Virilus is taken captive. Quintus and a handful of surviving soldiers face a desperate struggle to keep themselves alive behind enemy lines, evading the Pict pursuers over harsh terrain, and in an attempt to rescue their General, then finally reaching the safety of the Roman frontier.

What works best is Marshall’s vicious hack and slash combat scenes where blood flies in all directions. The violence is gritty and grounded in reality, giving the scenes real power and realism to them. The film’s polished monochromatic glow gives a strong juxtaposition to the splashes of blood.

When blood isn’t flowing on screen, I was treated to stunning aerial shots of our heroes charging through fields, forests and mountains. It’s an amazing landscape, adding much needed scope and grandeur to what would otherwise be a very claustraphobic chase movie. The impressive costumes and big sets also aid the film in looking much bigger and more impressive than its meager $25 million budget would dictate.

I loved Centurion. I felt it held up as a pseudo-historical action epic, telling the unknown story of the disappearance of the 9th Legion of Rome. The movie was told made with a style and panache reserved for a director who clearly loves his subject matter. Highly recommended!

http://danhowescinephile.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-centurion.html

Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Review: Centurion
Genre maestro Neil Marshall's new film, Centurion, is all killer no filler, an economic narrative about a band of Roman soldiers trapped behind enemy lines in Northern Britain. The mis en scene is lean, agile, and tough, like its characters, and similarly smeared in dirt and drenched in neon-red blood. Story and execution work brilliantly and symbiotically together.

Rising star Michael Fassbender (pictured) fronts a solid ensemble, which includes fellow Brit Dominic West, Irish veteran Liam Cunningham, and strong female characters brought to life by lethal Ukrainian beauty Olga Kurylenko (also pictured) and mousy yet quietly confident englishgirl Imogen Poots. There is no ego in this cast; everyone works towards the quality of the whole, while still managing to shine in there own rights. This unity perfectly reflects the ideal dynamic among Roman soldiers, which is tested as Quintus Dias (Fassbender) leads his fellow warriors through the treacherous proto-Scottish wilderness.

One surprising element of Centurion is its contemporary sensibilities; it will resonate with modern Americans for its themes of soldierly brotherhood, the physical and emotional scars of war, the difficulties confronting a foreign army against insurgency. Above all, and indeed through the prism of these ideas, the film asks the timely question of what a conflict is worth. These ideas are thankfully subtle, never coming close to insulting, Avatar-esque levels of obviousness.

As with many films in the historical action genre, Centurion is fueled by healthy doses of testosterone, but is not without a woman's touch. Though it does not pass the Bechdel Test (there are only two major female characters, and one remains mute), it still provides realistic examples of women in a genre usually dominated by men. In film's of this ilk, on the rare occasions that women do show up, they are usually nothing more than eye candy or helpless damsels in need of rescuing by a strong alpha male. Not so in Centurion; Kurylenko's Pict warrior Etain is a brooding, intelligent, and deadly force of nature, who can hold her own against any man in the picture without coming off as overly butch or blandly evil. On the other end is Poots as Pict outcast Arianne, who has convinced the leaders of her native, patriarchal society that she is a witch so that she may live a peaceful, independent existence on her own. Quintus and his brothers-in-arms come upon her at their most desperate hour, and it is she who does the rescuing. She treats their wounds, feeds them, and gives them refuge for the night, but she is not simply here to serve the men. Arianne has a rare agency; a wholeness that we don't often see. She and Quintus are drawn to each other, but not to fulfill some lame, trite requirement that our hero have a love interest; they are equal entities, and the attraction that forms between them is very real and perfectly natural. Credit is due to Fassbender and Poots, who convey this budding relationship with admirable subtlety, and create a bond that lingers even as Quintus and his troops move on down the road.

Written by danhowes at 2:13 PM

http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/film-review-centurion/

Film Review: Centurion

I’m surprised Centurion wasn’t developed as a miniseries. Set in 117 A.D. as Roman soldiers attempt to overthrow the Picts in northern Britain, Neil Marshall’s film tells what could have been an 8-hour story in just over 90 minutes. After quick introductions to the characters, a surprise ambush by the Picts leaves nearly every Roman soldier dead. Seven manage to escape – one of whom is our narrator, a Centurion named Quintus (Michael Fassbender). After an attempt to save their captured General Titus (Dominic West) goes wrong, the men spend the remainder of the film being pursued the relentless Picts, who are led by a mute female warrior, Etain. who is seeking revenge on the Romans who killed her family and ripped out her tongue. These characters would have been right at home in a longer, more thoughtful historical epic, but Neil Marshall (The Descent) has created a quick, thrilling, and ultra-violent game of hide and seek that serves them well.

The Romans want to kill the Picts, the Picts want to kill the Romans, and that’s all there is to it. Characters may have less dimension than the first iteration of Pong, but the actors, Fassbender especially, perform like the blood is real. Beyond the regularly unbearable dialogue (“Sometimes there are scars that can’t be seen.”), even the most basic narrative elements are simplified to sub-quantum levels. Quintus is obviously the film’s hero, but why? The Romans are the invaders, and the Picts – though dirtier and more prone to growling – are merely defending their land. Objectively speaking, neither side is that likable. Despite this, we root for team that possesses the narrator. Simple. Fine. Done. Go Rome! I can accept these examples of Centurion’s complete lack of depth because I can also accept that it is performed and produced so excitingly. Sam McCurdy’s photography of northern Britain’s dark landscapes is often breathtaking, Ilan Eshkeri’s score is generic, yet rousing, and Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) once again reminds us he deserves the lead role in just about everything.

Without a hint of pretension, heads are sliced off, love interests are introduced out of nowhere, and impossible-to-win battles are somehow won. Action movies have been so preoccupied with forced nostalgia and over-hyped gimmicks lately that it’s a treat to see a movie like Centurion embrace something so simple. I don’t need 3D or Sylvester Stallone to enjoy myself at an action movie. The glasses and Stallone’s arms just make me too uncomfortable.

http://swordandsandalgaming.blogspot.com/2010/08/centurion-b-movie-fun.html

Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Centurion - 'B' Movie Fun

When I first started “Sword and Sandal Gaming”, one of my first posts concerned the anticipated release of “Centurion” - the British produced film about the disappearance of the Roman Ninth Legion in 117 AD, when it ventured north into what would one day become Scotland in order to subdue the warlike Pictish tribes. Although the film opened in England last spring, it did not appear in the States until last weekend. I finally did get a chance to see it, although not in a theater, but on my own home TV during a special, On-Demand, "before opening in theaters" showing provided by my local cable provider. Now that I have seen it, what do I think? Let's see....

If nothing else, Centurion is a ton of fun – a rousing, action packed, period piece that is combination war, adventure, and chase film. Is it historically accurate? I think more so than most movies supposedly inspired by historical events, but it also has the advantage that its limited, non-Hollywood scale budget gives it a more focused concentration than that of a major production studio film trying to be epic in scope. Most of the armor and equipment are reasonably accurate, with the exception of a battle scene where the Romans are spear, instead of pilum armed. And at one point, the construction of Hadrian's Wall is seen commencing, which didn't actually happen until 5 years later in 122 AD. The Picts are shown as woad adorned Scots, but given the paucity of sources about these tribes from this era, well ... why not? Finally, there are now scholars who contest whether or not the Ninth Legion was actually lost in Britain in the first place, but if not completely factual, the tale of the lost legion and its eagle is an iconic and almost mythological one for Ancient History enthusiasts. So, these are all minor quibbles really, and the bottom line is that there was nothing in Centurion that made me seriously wince at its complete disregard for “what really happened”.

But is Centurion a great film? Or a bad film? It has gotten mixed reviews from the professionals, and in a sense I agree with that evaluation. Expecting so much more, I was just a little bit disappointed with the final product. The film is very weak on character depth, and there are several less than satisfactory, mile wide plot holes. More than a bit derivative, despite its original subject matter, it is in essence mainly an extended chase film, whose plot line could be easily substituted into a 1960's era Western with the Romans as the American frontier cavalry and the Picts as Plains Indians.

Despite the above criticisms though, if you are a fan of movies set in the Ancient world, then Centurion is still good enough that it is a must-see. Although the characters are all rather one-dimensional, they are very well acted – particularly the roles of the son of a gladiator Centurion, played by Michael Fassbender (last seen in “Inglorious Basterds”), and of Etain the Tracker, as played by Olga Kurylenko, who manages to be sensuous, mysterious, and frightening, all at the same time. Neil Marshall, the British director more well-known for his cult-classic type horror films, sets a break neck pace from beginning to end, filming the battles, ambushes, and combats just as if Centurion was itself of that film genre. There really is something to be said for that approach – although brutally and unflinchingly violent, all the on screen mayhem, blood splattering, and chopped off body parts, even if a bit hyper-realistic, is probably a more honest portrayal of what up close and personal hand-to-hand combat with edged weapons was like rather than that shown in most mainstream movies. The film has some really nice small touches too, like for instance, the distinctly visible scars on the grizzled faces of the veteran Legionaries when viewed in closeup. And the cinematography is simply beautiful - the film is just flat out good looking in almost every frame.

All in all, if you are a fan of well-made B-movies, and you are not expecting an Oscar quality film, then Centurion is quite the thrilling ride. Fans of Ancient History, Ancient Wargaming, and Sword and Sandal films should definitely rush out to see Centurion. I don't think you will be disappointed, and you will most definitely not be bored.

For a brief sampling, the clips below show the scenes of the Ninth Legion being ambushed in the Pictish woods. From an Ancients gaming perspective, it looks like the Romans were caught marching in column through disordering terrain, then were disrupted by a rolling fireball stratagem, before finally being fragmented by a medium foot impact charge starting from a higher elevation.

http://bitchinfilmreviews.com/centurion/

Centurion
August 31st, 2010 by Blake

Neil Marshall won a lot of favor with The Descent, and quickly lost it all with the ridiculous Doomsday. This made his next, and fourth film somewhat important. He could be relegated to the likes of Shyamalan, or he could rebound like Danny Boyle after he churned out flops like A Life Less Ordinary. Which path did he choose with Centurion, which both wrote and directed? Well it seems I forgot a third option: following up a turd with a mostly mediocre film, backed up by a solid effort, like Michel Gondry when he went from Eternal Sunshine, to The Science of Sleep, to Be Kind Rewind.

Centurion‘s cast has much to boast. Michael Fassbender plays the lead, a Roman soldierr named Quintus Dias. As a soldier of Rome, he’s attempting to conquer the lands to the north of the empire (in what is now Scotland) from a feral and brutal people called Picts, when his battalion is destroyed. He escapes and is rescued by another group of Romans, led by General Titus Flavius Virilus (Dominic West), who is leading his own campaign against the savages. They are led by mute Pict who has supernatural tracking skills, played by Olga Kurylenko. Flavius’s 3,000 men are all but killed, and eight of them, including Quintus are left hundreds of miles behind enemy line and spent the rest of the film trying to return home safely.

Marshall spends no time at all getting to the much buzzed about gore. Any sort of medieval, brutal violence you can think of, Marshall found a way to fit it in. In fact, there is so much focus on getting to the blood, that when the film should have been focusing on developing his characters, he was figuring out how to get the biggest splatter pattern. Which is certainly a shame when you have someone as talented as Fassbender leading your cast.

It’s not all bad though. There are some fairly well choreographed fight scenes that keep the tension at an enjoyable level. Kurylenko, who was as entertaining as a wet blanket in Quantum of Solace, found her niche as a well talented actress, as long as she doesn’t speak. I found myself concerned about at least three of the final eight Romans, and they turned out to be the central in the plot, which was satisfying as the film winds down to a satisfying end, even if it is only on a superficial macho level.

Marshall couldn’t help but get political in a war film, even if it does take place in 117AD. Marshall warns, as if he is the only one who gets it, that invading a smaller local population could potentionally be dangerous, as the offense may not be prepared for new conditions, and new enemies. Yes, this part is boring, and it makes me wish he spent the thought he put into that message (and the violence), into making Centurion a bit better, a bit closer to the quality of The Descent. But he didn’t. So we’re left with this finished product that is just okay, when it could have been better. Sandal and sword fans will enjoy more than the rest of us.

Bitchin' Stars: ★★½/4

http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/centurion-review-at-what-point-do-we-consider-that-the-good-movie-was-the-fluke-.php


At What Point Do We Consider that the Good Movie Was the Fluke?

Centurion / Dustin Rowles

Film Reviews | August 31, 2010

Neil Marshall made The Descent, one of the best horror movies of the last decade, and apparently that has made him somewhat immune from fanboy criticism. If he makes a slow-moving film punctuated by beautifully shot scenes of poetic decapitations (a little too infrequently, for my tastes, as those are the only scenes worth watching in the Centurion), it’s because he meant to make a slow-moving, lethargic and ultimately pointless film. That’s the genius of Marshall, you see? It’s not hammy dialogue and a threadbare plot; it’s a B-movie! If he makes an underwhelming Roman epic, it’s because he wanted to make an underwhelming Roman epic. And we should thank Marshall for the opportunity to sit through his listless mess. Why? Because he made The Descent.

Set in 117 A.D., the Centurion preamble tells us that the Romans are taking over the world. However, up in the harsh regions of Brittania, the Romans are being picked off by the local Picts, who prefer to use guerrilla tactics to protect their territory instead of lining up and being summarily slaughtered by the massive Roman force. The 3000 strong Ninth Legion of Roman Warriors, led by Gen. Titus Virilus (Dominic West), are ordered to wipe out the Picts, but the Picts end up annihilating the Romans instead, save for a few survivors, led by centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender), who prefers not to wear a shirt, even in the snow (that’s a real man, ladies and gentlemen). The seven survivors are stuck well behind enemy lines and have to use their wits (and their swords) to find their way home (see also: The Warriors, which I appreciated more after deducing Centurion’s origins). A mute Pict tracker (Olga Kurylenko) with blue eye-liner and no tongue (to at least save us from her painfully overwrought dialogue) is tasked with tracking down the survivors and ridding them of their pesky heads. She is what Tyra Banks might call fierce in a fit of drunkenness.

My problem with Centurion from the outset was the desire to root for the underdogs, and even though the Picts are savage, uncivilized blood-thirsty beasts, it’s hard to root for anyone associated with the Roman Empire, even if they belonged to a particular faction that’s been mostly wiped out. The Picts would later merge with the Gaels to form what is now Scotland, and maybe Englishman Marshall has some animosity toward the Scots that brings a different dynamic to the proceedings. Otherwise, the only compelling reason I could find for rooting for the remaining survivors was that the Picts captured and tortured McNulty (bastards!), Fassbender was really good in Inglourious Basterds, and “Doctor Who’s” Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) was among the survivors, although he is a weasel in Centurion.

Centurion is a chase film, which means that the entire sum of the film can be reduced to run, fight, rest, run, fight, rest, run, fight, run, fight. And because most of the characters are scruffy white guys with shields and swords, it’ll take at least half an hour to separate out who belongs to what army. I’ll grant this, however: The fights were bloody fantastic, visceral and deliciously gratuitous; that is, if you’re a fan of an ax to the face (who isn’t?). Clearly, Marshall loves a good dismemberment, and the kills are chock full of mindless B-movie goodness. Unfortunately, the script is just as mindless as the kills are. Indeed, if Marshall had strung all the fight scenes together, it would’ve made for an enjoyable short film, and it would’ve been no less pointless than the end result of Centurion.

But then again, if you’re bored by most of Centurion, it’s because Marshall obviously wanted it that way. If you don’t like Centurion, it’s clearly Marshall’s intent. He did direct The Descent, after all.

http://www.thislalife.com/2010/08/centurion-slow-rise-of-michael.html

31.8.10



"Centurion" delivers the sword and sandals action that I hoped it would, however it should be noted that the sword and sandal balance is way tipped in the swords favor. The film comes director Neil Marshall, who's trapped in a cave film "The Descent" is one of my favorite films ever, so I had high hopes.. And you know bloody what? The film mostly delivered the hardcore action goods.

Taking place in Northern Britain, the story focuses on the legendary 9th Legion of the Roman army, which is said to have disappeared mysteriously in the region. Basically, as soon as the Legion enters the region the native Picts kill everyone but a few ultra-badass Romans. That few try to make back to the safety of Roman lines, but they are tracked by an ruthless Pictish scout/badass/bond girl. Of course, the Pics are the natives and the Roman's are the invaders, but who cares about which side technically the good guys, when the swords come out. So to summarize, the whole movie is like the opening act of "Gladiator."

The weight of the movie rests on Michael Fassbender's shoulders. He plays the Centurion of the title and he basically ices man people, yells badass dialogue, and frequently stops on mountain tops to look to the north/east/west/south with a serious look. Fassbender, familar to audiences from "Inglorious Basterds" has the acting chops and the physicality here to be very convincing, by the end when he's shooting arrows through people's faces, I thought, hey, I might call Stallone and tell him I found a new action star. And a star he is, his next big role is Magneto, in the upcoming "X-Men: First Class."

If there is one fault to the movie, it's simply that it doesn't have a huge budget. The film is short and the battles while awesome, reek of underlying sense of frugality. With more money, the film could have been more epic, with a longer story, with better defined characters, and a stronger more epic score. However, this is a foreign film on a small budget, so these things are lacking. Low budget or not, it still brings it in the action department, at one point a guy pulls an arrow out of his own head, and then stabs someone in the eye with it, not something for my mother, but something that I certainly enjoyed.
Posted by TPG at 10:44 AM

http://wwwbillblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/with-lance-and-musket-and-roman-spear.html

Tuesday, August 31, 2010
With a Lance and a Musket and a Roman Spear
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Neil Marshall is a director who seems desperate to hold on to his cult. In his quest to become…I don’t know…the next John Carpenter(?) he has a tendency to slide back two steps for every three he’s gained, and as an intermittent fan of Marshall’s (at this point, I don’t think anyone is more than an intermittent fan, but then again we’re only four films in – the day is young) I’m becoming a bit frustrated. Marshall refuses to take off -- in that he's not using them as a springboard -- completely from his past successes, but, still, at least he is taking off -- in the sense that he's leaving them in his rearview -- from his past failures.
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It all began with 2002’s Dog Soldiers, Marshall’s on-the-cheap werewolves vs. the Army film, which was considered good enough by some to get this whole cult business going. I wasn’t on board, myself, though at this point I don’t remember the movie well enough to offer up any kind of strong objections (the fact that Dog Soldiers has almost completely fled my memory might be considered damning enough, if I wasn’t the one saying it, because my memory’s shot). But next up, Marshall offered the world The Descent, a highly effective, at times even torturous, in the good sense, horror film about caves, female spelunkers, and blind, shrieking, underground monsters. It’s an excellent film, about which I won’t say too much at this time – for now it’s enough to note that the Marshall cult was ready to get this show on the road, and that Marshall seemed perfectly willing to lay his cinematic influences bare, in The Descent quoting liberally from, for instance, Kubrick’s The Shining, among others. This was all fine by us, until Doomsday, Marshall’s next film, came along, and struck the world as basically Escape from New York and The Road Warrior, but bad. Not terrible, and in fact, for my money, sort of fun, but about as empty as such fun can be. Doomsday’s debt to The Road Warrior is especially immense, to the point where you can’t say, as you could with The Descent, that Marshall was quoting his influences – this was plagiarism.
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Needless to say, the Marshall cult began to lose a lot of its verve and enthusiasm at around this point. When the object of a cult begins, with only his third film, to flaunt his lack of creativity and show signs that he is not, in fact, in the filmmaking business, but rather the recycling business, the acolytes tend to start standing around, scratching their necks and kicking the dirt, filled with a dread that this may not have been such a hot idea after all. Such doubts tend to be fleeting, however, and why shouldn’t they be? At worst, Doomsday and The Descent cancel each other out (Dog Soldiers counting as sort of an introduction, an announcement of potential, more than anything else), and there’s no reason to not hold out hope for Marshall’s next film. Maybe if he could come up with a movie title that began with a letter other than D, he’d really be on to something.
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Which brings us to Centurion (that’s a C! Which is only one letter back from D, but that’s okay, you don’t have to be a world-beater every time). And we’re left with what? Well, I’ll tell you: it’s better than Doomsday, not least because, as far as I can tell, it’s a whole hell of a lot less derivative. The story, briefly, is about Quintos Dias (an excellent Michael Fassbender), a former gladiator and now Roman soldier, who is stationed in Britain, which he and all the other Romans are trying to conquer. (Let's get this out of the way: if you go to Centurion expecting or hoping to see parallels with current events, you will find them. However, you might have a more difficult time trying to make the film conform to whatever your own politics might happen to be. And I'm cool with that.) Dias's initial platoon, or whatever, gets massacred by the dreaded Picts, and Dias, because he can speak their language, is taken captive. He escapes, however, and is taken in by the Roman ninth infantry, led by General Virilus (Dominic West). Except they're also massacred, due to the double-dealings of a Pict tracker and double agent named Etain (Olga Kurylenko, whose make-up and costume as Etain causes her to bear more than a passing resemblence to Lee-Anne Liebenberg as Viper in Marshall's Doomsday; it's probably worth mentioning that Liebenberg was the most striking feature of that entire film), a now-tongueless victim of past Roman misdeeds whose head is filled with thoughts of vengeance. So Virilus is taken prisoner, and it turns out seven of his infantry survived the massacre, including Dias, and soon a rescue mission is under way, which goes badly, and soon we're in escape mode. It's all very effective and thrilling.
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It’s also very lean. One thing about all of Marshall’s non-Doomsday films is that they tell very simple stories, with Marshall focusing his energy on craft, mood, tension, and all that other stuff. Doomsday was too busy by half, and to give you an idea of how far on the other end of the scale Centurion can be located, consider that it’s a story about ancient Rome, honor, combat, betrayal (and I guess also identity, if you want to be one of those people), yet it clocks in at 97 minutes, with credits. When was the last time that happened? Such films tend to have a minimum run-time of two and half hours (incidentally, if lately I seem to be making a lot of the run-times of various films, that’s only because I believe that efficiency is an underrated quality). But Marshall gets all the same stuff in there as his swollen brethren do, and he doesn’t really short-change anything. What isn’t needed is gone. If, in short fiction, it’s vital that you don’t waste words, in filmmaking it’s often equally vital that you don’t waste seconds, and Marshall doesn’t.
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What Marshall also doesn't do, however, is good blood. And let's be honest: this is a blood movie. Like Braveheart and 300 before it, Centurion is a grand, blood-and-thunder, skull-crushing decapitation festival. It tells an interesting story, has swell acting, and all that, but its primary reason for being is to drench everyone in viscera. I don't know about you, but that's plenty okay with me -- the problem is that practical gore effects, of the kind used in Braveheart, seem to be going to the way of stop-motion animation, at least for now, and in Centurion what you see a lot of are swords and such arcing down into the unfortunate torso or head of a doomed Roman or Pict, and then a smear of what appeared to me to be MS Paint, red, on the spray-paint option. This is fairly distracting, and unnecessary, and all around a bad choice.
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But it's not ruinous. It's just a very strange blunder, one that, to me, kept 300 from ever achieving a level beyond "curiosity" (although that movie has a number of other issues) but here just keeps Centurion from being a slam-dunk, albeit one of modest ambitions. The film still represents Marshall back on solid ground, though; closer to the heights he reached with The Descent (pun!), still scrambling a bit to fully get back there, but comfortable at least with the fact that Doomsday is, for now, behind him.
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UPDATE: I just changed my first paragraph, as the early version made it sound as if I was getting ready to slam Centurion, which I don't do. It was a bad paragraph.
Posted by bill r. at 11:19 AM

http://www.onlinemovieshq.com/watch-centurion-2010-online/

1.

zlove-1

Like Neil Marshall's other movies, this is solid but ultimately feels abit stretched. Cool, gory battle scenes – at times the editing makes itfeel like they are trying to fit as many on screen deaths as possiblewithin the smallest amount of screen time. I just never really got thatengaged with the characters. Overall, this is a timekiller which iscompetent, uncompromising and mostly visually interesting, but overall,nothing remarkable or really innovative. I thought The Descent was muchmore effective. Lots of respect for the writer/director for at leastcontinuing to produce original story lines though, and not justremakes, adaptations or sequels.

Aug 29th, 2010
2.

Dr_Yvon_COULARDEAU

Our western world has been deeply shocked by September 11. There's nodoubt about that. But, what has happened to Hollywood??? This awfulmelodrama may be based on real facts, but it is really over the top!The problem is not the suffering endured by the Centurion (theAmericans), it is the dishonest way things are told. Come on! What doesmean this Christian fundamentalist, would be Spartan (Iraqi), when hesays the that he wants two "avenge" all this? And then he serves twoduty tour in Sparta (Iraq)???? Sparta had NOTHING to do with the WTCdisaster! No weapon of mass destruction, no ties with Al Qaida!Nothing! How many lies will we have to endure about this very sadhistorical event?

When a movie is so "wrong", it's not cinema anymore. It's propaganda.And propaganda can kill millions… Think about that.

Dr Yvon COULARDEAU, University of Paris Dauphine & University of Paris1 Pantheon Sorbonne

Aug 29th, 2010
3.

Bollywood_Stoolsoftener (bollywoodstoolsoftener@live.com)

The movie is quite enjoyable. The formula is simple; you want somehigh-tech action. Kung-fu? okay, better. You want Matrix-style actionscenes? Delivered. Attractive men? There's Michael Fassbender for you.And now-a-days you want beautiful boys with Barbaric swords, kickingass. This movie shows how to manufacture them and sell them in market.They seduce dumbhearted maidens and then kill them, just how you wishedit should be. Then in the end, sense of humanity rises in their killerminds. And your heart gets filled up with compassion and forgiveness.

It may be all deja-vu, but a distinctive style made this movie quiteentertaining. There is less over-acting and the characters are wellcrafted. The basic idea is in a way unique, however predictable theoutcome may be. All I should say, this is a good movie to watch in atired, relaxed mind and enjoy. I should give it 7/10.

Aug 29th, 2010
4.

Joan Alos

"A splinter group of Roman soldiers fight for their lives behind enemylines after their legion is decimated in a devastating guerrillaattack." Well, not exactly. The plot could also match the followingpattern: "A splinter group of Yankee soldiers fight for their livesamong Sioux tribes after their unit is decimated in a devastatingguerrilla attack." Or, why not? "A splinter group of American marinesfight for their lives behind Taliban lines after their unit isdecimated in a devastating guerrilla attack in Afghanistan." Centurionis just a cheap cliché with no historical accuracy, no original plotand no interesting characters. I give the film a five just because ofthe beautiful views of the Highlands. The closing credits are the best.