Here is another film about the lost 9th legion in the wilds of Caledonia
(Scotland). Whereas The Eagle tells the fate of
the legion 20 years after the fact, this one follows the 9th on its
fateful mission.
The central figure is Quintas Dias (Michael Fassbender). Quintus is a soldier in one of the frontier forts and is taken captive by the raiding Picts because he knows their language. He later escapes and stumbles upon the 9th. Thus, he is not really a member of the 9th though he becomes the leader of the survivors. He is the titular Centurion.
This is a chase movie. There is lots of running. Oddly, that makes it similar to The Eagle. The person chasing them is Etain (Olga Kurylenko), a woman whose family was killed by Romans when she was a child. Moreover, they raped her and cut out her tongue. Though there is certainly a history of women warriors among the Britannic people of the era, it struck me as odd that one - who was not a queen - would be leading a war band.
Though Quintus does return to report the fate of the 9th, his superiors decide to strike the 9th from existence rather than admit such a disaster for Rome (thus explaining why the 9th vanished).
All in all, a worthwhile movie.
The central figure is Quintas Dias (Michael Fassbender). Quintus is a soldier in one of the frontier forts and is taken captive by the raiding Picts because he knows their language. He later escapes and stumbles upon the 9th. Thus, he is not really a member of the 9th though he becomes the leader of the survivors. He is the titular Centurion.
This is a chase movie. There is lots of running. Oddly, that makes it similar to The Eagle. The person chasing them is Etain (Olga Kurylenko), a woman whose family was killed by Romans when she was a child. Moreover, they raped her and cut out her tongue. Though there is certainly a history of women warriors among the Britannic people of the era, it struck me as odd that one - who was not a queen - would be leading a war band.
Though Quintus does return to report the fate of the 9th, his superiors decide to strike the 9th from existence rather than admit such a disaster for Rome (thus explaining why the 9th vanished).
All in all, a worthwhile movie.
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