Centurion (2010)

Genre

Action | Adventure | Drama

Director

Neil Marshall

Country

UK

Cast

Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko, Dominic West, Liam Cunningham, David Morrissey, J.J. Feild, Ulrich Thomsen, Noel Clarke, Riz Ahmed, Dimitri Leonidas, Dave Legeno, Axelle Carolyn, Imogen Poots, Paul Freeman, Rachael Stirling, Michael Carter, Tom Mannion, Peter Guinness, Lee Ross, Jake Maskall, Eoin Macken, Neil Marshall

Storyline

A.D. 117. Roman centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) leads a group of soldiers on a raid of a Pict camp to rescue a captured general (Dominic West). As one of the soldiers murdered the son of the Pict leader (Ulrich Thomsen), the Romans find themselves hunted by a seemingly unstoppable group of Pict's warriors, led by deadly tracker known as Etain (Olga Kurylenko).

Opinion

Beautiful at look, Centurion is a very well made film, bloody, and brutal, with fantastic fighting scenes,  yet dull because it somehow fails in engaging the viewer. 

The main problem with the film is that it focuses on the visual aspect instead of the writing, and it is a huge shame because considering the subject, the film could have been so much better. There isn't much depth to the characters, the story is mediocre and predictable, and the dialogue is lifeless.

The film opens with some nonsense, and goes on with some other nonsense. First, why do the Picts leave Quintus Dias (Fassbender) alive? Only because he can speak their language? It doesn't make lot of sense to me. Second, how did Etain manage to tell such a detailed story of what happened to her, if she was mute? Third, the Picts are supposed to kill and decapitate the Romans, but when Bothos is shot in the leg with an arrow, one of the Picts says, "Let him bleed". Like, seriously? After chasing them for hours, they just let him bleed. Fourth, the Picts killed thousands Romans and captured their general, still three Romans manage to kill the most lethal Picts. That's unreal. 

Michael Fassbender does a decent job as Quintus Dias, the Romans leader. Too bad the film didn't give him the chance to show off his acting abilities, but gave him a sword and lots of action instead. The supporting cast does a good job. Olga Kurylenko well delivers her performance through facial expressions and body language. David Morrissey, Dominic West, Ulrich Thomsen, and Imogen Poots all do a good job.

Quotes

Centurion Quintus Dias: In the chaos of battle, when the ground beneath your feet is a slurry of blood, puke, piss and the entrails of friends and enemies alike, it's easy to turn to the gods for salvation. But it's soldiers who do the fighting, and soldiers who do the dying, and the gods never get their feet wet.