The Last Legion (2007/Genius DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: B Film: B
Any time
a movie claims to be set in an actual historical period it opens itself up to
criticism about just how historically accurate it really is. Any film that is an adaptation of a well-known
story or legend is also open to criticism from fans of that story as to how
close to the legend the movie comes. The Last Legion is a movie that claims
to not only represent the actual history of the last days of the Roman Empire
but also ties into the Arthurian cycle of stories. I gotta say, it does a pretty good job with
both.
As a fan
of both history and Arthurian legend I went into this with reservations. I’ve read a lot of novels that attempt to do
the same thing, some of which are really well done and others that are just
plain crap.
There are
some spoilers ahead, so beware.
The film
opens with the last days of the Roman Empire. The official last emperor of Rome
was a child named Romulus, who history tells us, was a figurehead for his
father. Barbarians, led by the Germanic
chieftain Odoacer, sacked the city and Romulus was exiled, at which point he
disappears from the historical record.
The film
gets all this right. It is at this point
that history starts to become legend. The
great sword Excalibur, in this version, forged for Caesar, falls into the hands
of Romulus. Romulus is then rescued by a
group of loyalists who whisk him away to Great Britain. A couple of these figures seem familiar. Aurelius, played by Colin Firth, is a Roman
general. Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley) is Romulus’ teacher, a gray-bearded old man
who likes to convince people he is a sorcerer.
The name Aurelius Ambrosias shows up in the actual historical record of
the time and is generally thought of as one of the many historical precedents
for the figure of Arthur. In terms of
story, and what is pertinent here, is that Aurelius is usually considered the
father of Uther (Arthur’s father), and Ambrosius is one of the many names used
by Merlin over the years.
Oh yeah,
there¹s also a woman warrior played by Aishwarya Rai. There’s absolutely no historical precedent
for her, but every sword movie these days needs a hot warrior chick,
apparently.
History
and myth aside, it’s a fun movie. You
don't to know or care about any of this stuff to just enjoy the ride. There are great battles and great
performances. Thomas Sangster portrays
Romulus with gravity and dignity and far more presence than you expect from a
child (as an aside, Sangster is making a career of playing young Arthurian
characters; he was young Tristan in Tristan
and Isolde, which I reviewed somewhere on this site). Kevin McKidd (from
HBO’s Rome) is a wonderfully scary
barbarian.
Watch it
just as an action adventure movie with swords and I think it will be
satisfying. If you’re a history or
Arthurian buff the accuracy is just gravy.
- Wayne Wise
www.wayne-wise.com
