Well, since I like these kinds of movies with sword battles, that take place in the Roman Empire, Crusades, Etc., I just had to check this one out. We've already had Robin Hood come out this year and as much as I liked it, I could not wait to see Centurion. I haven't seen Neil Marshall's previous movies but I have to admit he is a pretty good director. Take note, if you do decide to see this movie and you don't like alot of gore, then you probably shouldn't go see it. The battles scenes are really realistic and there is alot of gore.
The plot is set during the war between Roman soldiers and Pict tribesmen during the 2nd century Roman conquest of Britain. Michael Fassbender stars as Quintus Dias, Roman centurion and son of a legendary gladiator who leads a group of soldiers on a raid of a Pict camp to rescue a captured general (Dominic West). The son of the Pict leader is murdered during the raid, and the Romans find themselves hunted by a seemingly unstoppable group of the Pict's most vicious and skilled warriors, led by a beautiful and deadly tracker (Olga Kurylenko), and hell bent on revenge.
First off, the performances by everyone were surprisingly top notch as I did not expect this movie to be that good. Michael Fassbender is no exception and I can not wait to see him as Magneto in X-Men: First Class. Dominic West does a good job, much better than he did in Punisher: War Zone. Olga Kurylenko also proves how good she is as a actor and steals some of the scenes. Now onto the good stuff. Like I said before, the battles are really gory and look real. The costumes are also brilliant and the sets and scenes of the mountains and forests are done extremely well. The cinemotography is also great in this movie.
The movie is no Gladiator or Kingdom of Heaven and doesn't even come close to matching them. I found Robin Hood to be much better also than this but still Centurion is a good movie and if you like these kind of movies like me, than you should check it out. So, a good film, there is tons of room for improvement but still, a good film.
-2.5/4 stars-
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