vincentlynch-moonoi
I typically don't add a review when there are already more than 100. But in this case I'm going to because I think this film is overrated. Oh, I'm not saying this is a great epic about the Roman Empire. It's not. I don't think it's too faithful to history, but good enough to be called historical fiction. What I do think it is, is a good adventure film. Just don't take it so seriously. What made me laugh was that in the blurb I read about it, it said it was a "cut rate" adventure film; apparently only spending $67 million in 2007 was "cut rate"; only in America.You have a decent cast here. Colin Firth plays Aurelius, a military leader charged with the responsibility of protecting the young Romulus. He's good here, and it's nice to see Firth in a different kind of role than we usually do. Thomas Brodie-Sangster does fairly well as the young Romulus Augustulus. Ben Kingsley is decent as a druid who also protects and teaches the boy. Perhaps most interesting is Aishwarya Rai -- my favorite female Indian actress -- as a female warrior.The plot is decent. The young Romulus has been crowned the new head of the Roman Empire, but shortly after that his mother and father are murdered and he is kidnapped. Obviously, a rescue is needed. Thereby the action.What's wrong with this film? Well, I think for many it's the idea that any film about the Roman Empire -- even a fictional story -- is supposed to be filmed in great grandeur. This is filmed well, but not on a grand scale.This won't end up on my DVD shelf, but it's a good film (not a great film). I'm glad I watched it. Might watch it again some day.
rider-759-5473
there are some dimwits trying to rate this movie as a box office leading movie or something. The movie for what it is is really good. It's entertaining at the very least. You will recognize many familiar actors if you watch these sorts of movies and shows. Most of them are younger or up and coming stars and you can tell in the movie. I recognized characters from HBOs Rome, Vikings, Spartacus and I think even Troy. It's not too bad for a family movie, and had a decent plot which looked to be a lead in to another movie involving Merlin and King Arthur. There are a few corny pieces in it, but it's a twisted tail of roman history and medieval times. All and all I thought it was worth the watch.
Peter Pluymers
I expected an entertaining costume movie about Romans, but after a while it looked rather like an "Asterix and Obelix" soft-action movie. The only bright spot was the appearance of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The Romans should worship her. What a divine body.The movie was of a high "Bud Spencer" level with Goths flying around in the sky, after which Mira appears gloating. Then there was Thomas Brodie-Sangster who had the same facial expression the entire film (excellent performance when you take that in mind). Kingsley starts as a nicely played counselor/teacher/philosopher (beautiful scene in the beginning of the film), but slowly evolves into an irritating magician. Him being Merlin was a complete surprise and a sign for me to start rolling my eyeballs.I didn't care whether the film is historically accurate. I was hoping for an entertaining movie, but got a faint pathetic historical epos with men in skirts.More reviews at http://opinion-as-a-moviefreak.blogspot.be/
SnoopyStyle
The year is 460 A.D., Rome is weak and a new child emperor is crowned. Rome soon falls to the Goths, and the emperor is taken prisoner. All that's left is a handful of men who are obligated by duty to rescue him. The men are led by Aurelius (Colin Firth) and the emperor's mysterious former guardian Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley). They travel to Britannia to find The Last Legion that could be counted on to be loyal to the emperor.From there, it becomes ridiculous and tries to tie in another legendary story. Whole sections are rushed or skipped. The action is passable but lack drama. There are many plot holes. Logic is thrown out the window. They bend over backwards to try and close this story loop. It's more awkward than poetic as may be hoped.
AD
