Neil Marshall is a B-movie expert who has quite the cult following after directing the horror hits Dog Soldiers and The Descent. His last movie was a fun, trashy ode to The Road Warrior called Doomsday and he follows it up with a hack and slash classic called Centurion. Centurion is a gritty, gorgeously mounted action picture about a group of Roman soldiers being hunted by a tribe of nasty Picts led by a vengeful, mute warrior woman. The grimy gore meshes seamlessly with the striking and bleak cinematography of a harsh and unforgiving landscape. The excellent and charismatic Michael Fassbender is the lead while the stunning and badass Olga Kurylengo is the Pict warrior who will stop at nothing to get revenge on the Romans who destroyed her life.
Centurion is essentially an ultraviolent chase picture directed for maximum gore and impact. The cast is strong (especially Fassbender, who deserves to be a star) and the movie is not to be missed for fans of historical action, minus the political “intrigue” that does nothing but make movies like Gladiator, Troy, and Kingdom of Heaven bloated and overlong. The plot is basic and compelling. A group of Roman soldiers must fight for their lives behind enemy lines after their legion is betrayed by a Pict spy and led into an ambush. Marshall does sneak in some nifty reminders about superpowers who try to expand their empire but get nothing for their troubles but blood and death and there are some parallels to the current US foreign policy, but that stuff is easily ignored if you are just looking for a bloody good time at the movies. Centurion is available now on demand and in limited release, it’s not to be missed.
Grade: A-
Centurion Trailer:
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