The Eagle

Actors:  Channing Tatum , Donald Sutherland, Mark Strong, Jaime Bell, Tahar Rahim
Rating:  7 out of 10, this is set in virtually the same time period as The Centurion which was a much better picture.  It involves events surrounding the disappearance of the 9th Legion in Roman controlled Britain.  When I first saw the previews for this I was excited because I love movies set in Roman Empire times but I was extremely concerned that Tatum was cast in the lead.  I know its because of the movies but you always expect Romans to speak with British accents.  While Tatum doesn't overachieve in this movie he is at least believable.  The story is of a Roman officer trying to recover the Eagle, symbol of the legion, lost when his father perished with the legion north of Hadrian’s Wall.  There is a great attention to detail on historical accuracy, especially in the first half of the movie with the tactics and accoutrements of the Roman army.  It was fascinating to see a Roman "testudo", the turtle like employment of massed shields, used to great effect.  The first and last half hours of the movie are great but the middle just kills this movie.  This is where they get away from the action as Tatum recovers from his wounds and bonds with Bell.  This part of the movie is rescued by the presence of Sutherland, so good in everything he does.  Once the pair sets off for Scotland the action picks up again although I'm still trying to figure out what the hell the Seal People were supposed to be and why they were supposed to be tough.  They just looked silly instead of fearsome.  I really liked the final battle where the survivors of the 9th Legion rally to help Tatum defend the eagle one last time.  Great themes, guess this was a boy's adventure story in England, and it shows but still makes for a solid action movie.
MVP:  Bell as the undersized but feisty slave Esca