There is really little area to cover left when it comes to these period epics, with Alexander, Troy, King Aurther
all trampling similar ground - and they all seem to have one thing in
common: not one of them did business even close to that of Gladiator's. So while Legion isn't offering anything to new - it's still a welcome addition to the often overcrowded genre.
The
flick takes off during the fall of the Roman Empire, where its last
emperor, 12-year-old Romulus Augustus (played by 'that cute little kid
from Love Actually), rules
for a day before losing his family, his home and an empire to the hands
of power hungry enemies. Imprisoned on the island-fortress of Capri,
Romulus, aided by the clever strategies of his teacher Abrosinus (Ben
Kingsley) and the heroic skills of his legionnaire Aurelius (Firth),
escapes the island.
Accompanied by his friends, Romulus travels
to Britannia in search of the Last Legion (a fabled Dragon Legion)
where they hope to fight alongside one to make a last stand for
Rome (and, in the process, take his first steps to becoming the man and
the king who started the Arthurian legend).
It's a veritable
who's who of the British A-List, yet for some reason, it doesn't always
come across as convincing. It could be the age of Firth showing, or it
could simply be the fact that by throwing a beard on someone who
normally wears expensive suits isn't as convincing as it should be when
it comes to weathered war heroes.
Worth checking out, especially
if you are a fan of the genre, because the film does a great job of
creating some intense battle scenes without having to resort to extreme
CGI like Kingdom of Heaven did. EXTRAS
A
few good things here. Of course there are trailers and deleted scenes
as well as a fairly uninspired 'Making Of' featurette, however there is
a cool little extra which shows some behind the scenes fight rehersals.
Is
it must-see TV? Not particularly, but I must say, it supplied more than
a few laughs as it often looks like a home movie recorded by some Lord of the Rings fans that would end up on YouTube (if it wans't part of a multi-million dollar action movie).
Conclusion:
Movie 65% Extras: 60%
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