we saw the preview of The Last Legion in theatre 8 at the Varsity
The Last Legion is a movie to be largely avoided - it is so PG and has all the feel of a Xena episode albeit with a great deal of Lord of the Rings nobility given to it by some worthy actors - when you think of seasoned hardened Roman soldiers exhausted after years of campaign in Africa naturally you think of Colin Firth and the stunning beauty of Aishwarya Rai emerging from the river showing off her form and her martial arts skills in her fighting sequences -
and legionaire Aurelius Colin Firth is back together with his son from Love Actually who plays Romulus Caesar this time around - who although a boy learns to accept his Caesar birthright and the power it wields.
With Rome fallen around him, Aurelius pledged to defend to this last blood descendant of Julius Caesar to his last breath saves Romulus from imprisonment on Capri and with his loyal soldiers and with help from the eastern empire they head to the only help they can hope on - from the Ninth Legion in Britannia.
Sir Ben Kingsley is the boy's teacher Ambrosinius who bears the mark of a secretive past has been guiding Romulus Caesar throughout his childhood, but is cast off from Romulus's side on the eve of his ascension to Emperor. Alas, the boy's reign is cut short by attack from the evil Goths.
This all comes together by the end on the field by Hadrian's wall - a setting not too unlike Arthur - and of course the rallying speech that was epic in 300 can only make Firth's Olivier moment pale in comparison yet what took two hours and two films in Lord of the Rings takes less than five minutes with the breach of the walls by the Goths - and a fight that is supposed to be epic a la Obiwan and Darth Vader is woefully short in victoriousness. Although The Last Legion does have its fun quotient it lacks that certain larger than life quotient that an epic tale should possess. The leading names do give the movie a certain weight but the script's scenes robs them of the grand majesty.
this is Britannia !
at least with this visit to the Varsity - it is good training for the Toronto International Film Festival 2007 just around the corner
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