The Eagle

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. The CGI effects seem to have been kept under control, and so the film turned out to be more human than animation. The combat scenes were done in the current style of quick cuts where you just get a vague idea of what is going on, rather than actually being able to follow the blows being struck.

The film seemed mostly faithful to Roman history. It gives a vivid illustration of why Hadrian's wall was built. But I am not totally sure the Roman Senate had a "branch" in Britain.

The two leads (Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell) were perfectly suited to their roles, kind of like Hercules and his sidekick from 60s historical adventure films. But minus the corny jokes. There were no banquets with production numbers. And there was no "love interest" written in. And no magical effects or mythical creatures. And it was very easy to follow. And hugely entertaining.

It's not art but it's rather good, regardless.

I held off watching this film as, like westerns of my youth, the whole gladiator/crusader themes have saturated the market for a time. I am glad I waited as I could actually sit down and enjoy this film. Some say the accents were off, the acting stiff. I saw nothing that was overly out of place (including Sutherland's Canadian accent). If they had wanted authenticity, they would have all been speaking Latin.

I am a retired director so watching any film is a bit difficult for me to sit back and let the film take me to another place. Usually I will subconsciously pick it apart as an armchair quarterback. Not so with this film. I enjoyed this film from the credits to credits. I won't go on about the plot. It is basically about the struggle between our perceptions of our parents and reality, the conflicts of people from different cultures, trust and betrayal...basically all the struggles we all face in modern life.

Of particular pleasure was the cinematography and sound...little nuances not found in a lot of films today.

A great piece of work. Not perfect perhaps, but a buddy film much better than I had expected.

Now I'm not great at working out whether this was historically accurate or not so that's not going to be affect the way I rate this movie. I'm just going to assume that all was well unless someone cares to correct me in my ignorance? Except for the fact that thumbs up in a gladiatorial ring means kill (simulates thrusting the sword up into the body) and thumbs down means live... can't let that one slide, ever! As for whether this was based on a true story or not, I will leave that to the real journalists.

The Eagle is set in Roman occupied Britain in 140AD 20 years after the mysterious disappearance of the whole Ninth Legion in the glens and mountains of Scotland. It follows a Roman centurion, Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) and early on we are introduced to the fact that Marucs's father was standard bearer of the eagle for the Ninth Legion and that, when they along with the eagle, disappeared in the Scottish highlands disrepute was brought to the family of Aquila. Longing to be close to where his father disappeared and to restore his family honour, Marcus hot off the training camp for Roman centurions has requested that his first post be at the edge of the known world near Hadrian's wall, far from the choice any sane man would pick.

Eventually we are introduced to Esca (Jamie Bell) who is indebted to Marcus after having had his life saved by him and becomes his slave as penance. Together they set off to try and recover the lost eagle which forms an intriguing relationship development between the two characters as Esca is forced to obey his Roman master despite his hatred for who he is and what he stands for. This pairing results in an unpredictable plot with Esca's true intentions well hidden throughout.

The main crux of the story seems to be twofold with the development of this relationship between the two men and the desire shown by Marcus to restore the honour of his father and seek closure through the recovery of the eagle. Tatum shines in his part and you can sense the driving passion he has for his cause whilst Bell conveys his internal struggle over his split loyalties well. Other notable acting merit goes to Donald Sutherland for his bit part as the uncle of Marcus.

As a whole the battles portrayed are well choreographed and the cameras thrust you up close and personal with the warriors whilst they fight. In what seems to be a developing trend, the cameras are shaky and unsteady giving that sense you are actually there. The director Macdonald intentionally kept CGI to a minimum and it has paid off with the movie seemingly more realistic for it. The gore is not excessive and allows for the actual fighting to take centre stage rather than how red they can turn the battlefield which I liked.

The Scottish tribes play their part as a conceivable enemy during the film and speak in the native Gaelic tongue which is a nice touch that is less seen now as directors tend to swap to English after a brief dialogue to make it easier on the audience. It was also nice to see that the tribes that crossed paths with our main protagonists each had a different personality and feel about them rather than all being clumped together as Celts and getting portrayed as one generic group.

This movie although set in Roman times is less about the history and bureaucracy of Rome and more about the journey that two men take. It's a solid movie with good acting and fighting scenes but it starts to lag slightly in the middle. I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it if there were other choices available but you could do a lot worse.

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The movie has a fairly good opening in my opinion, a rather dull middle and a predictable ending.

The problem with it for me is the same problem I'm seeing with a lot of the new action films. The cameras stays very tight, action is all blurred and close up, so you can't see what's going on. The sound track is all keyed up so you won't be concentrating on the errors in the action. (Which you can't really see anyway) Golly, give me the days of good stuntmen back again.

I liked the opening half hour or so, but the middle is so much like a North American Indian film you lose all sense of the time period. I agree with the former reviewers comments, Gee, if the Britains lived like this why bother with them.

I prefer the mini-series "Rome" to this any day.

The theater chains are also destroying the movie going experience as I have to agonize over 15 minutes of commercials before the main feature starts.

The Eagle is directed by Kevin Macdonald and adapted to screenplay by Jeremy Brock from the book The Eagle of the Ninth written by Rosemary Sutcliff. It stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Tahar Rahim and Mark Strong. Music is scored by Atli Örvarsson and cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle.

In 120 AD, The Roman Ninth Legion marched into Caledonia, they, along with their precious Golden Eagle standard, were never seen again. 20 years later and Marcus Flavius Aquila (Tatum) arrives in Britain to serve as a garrison commander. He carries a burden, though, for the Ninth Legion was led by his father. It is perhaps his destiny that he go forth into Caledonia to maybe solve the mystery and restore honour to the family name?

Better angry than dead.

A film of two different, but equally enjoyable, halves, The Eagle is a delightful throw back to the swords and shields movies of old. All things are in place for a rollicking tale of courage, friendship and honour, and the film mostly delivers on its premise. First half is all about character introduction and motives required for plotting. We get some clanking sword play and splendid synchronised army manoeuvres as a garrison defence unfolds. Great to report that CGI and digital blood are not dominating proceedings, this is very human, even if the editing is of the whippy kind. A turn of events then sees Marcus come by way of Bell's slave, incidents are defined and we then move into the second half of the picture.

Life, life, LIFE!

Here is where the film becomes a character piece as two men from different walks of life, enemies with anger and determination gnawing away at their souls, traverse the magnificent Scottish Highlands (Dod Mantle's photography is breath taking at times) to solve the mystery of The Ninth. What follows is an invigorating olde world adventure where mistrust, redemption and unknown tribes reside. Dialogue stays sharp and Macdonald never lest the pace sag. There's a pleasant adherence to period flavourings, with the Romans and their foes given an intelligent make over by the writer, while it's really refreshing to find there isn't a token female love interest jimmied into the story.

Film, perhaps inevitably given the modest budget and expectations afforded it, is far from flawless, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to understand just what the modern audience, or indeed old classics movie fans, expect of a genre film such as this? The churlish decry the casting of American Tatum in the lead, but what he lacks in actual depth of talent is more than compensated for by him knowing how to make the role of Marcus work. With impressive physicality and square jawed machismo, he cuts a splendid rugged figure, he also knows how to brood, essential for any stoic hero stung by a slur on his family name. Bell slots in nicely as the weak of body but strong of mind slave, Esca, the unrecognisable Rahim scores very well as a warrior tribesman, while the technical touches within the picture (including Örvarsson's score) are genre compliant.

Sutherland's casting is odd, and Mark Strong is badly wasted, and the ending, whilst satisfactory, is not as grandiose as it should be. The latter more galling given the one they rejected, that's available in the extras on the DVD, would have closed the film down far better. Yet this is a far better film than its box office take and internet ratings suggests it is. The days of magnificent historical epics and eye dazzling choreographed sword fights sadly look a long way off now. That doesn't mean that fans of such films have to accept any genre offering that comes their way, for example such as Neil Marshall's very uneven Centurion, but something like the smaller scale treats of The Eagle deserve our support. 7.5/10