In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca, Marcus sets out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia - to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father's memory, and retrieve the lost legion's golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth.
rome soldier barbarian war redemption roman empire scotland slavery eagle ancient rome honor disappearance ancient world britain slave scottish highlands 2nd century hadrian’s wall antiquity
Nate H. reviewed The Eagle (2011)
Review from the comment
There’s kind of a low rent feel throughout parts of The Eagle. While watching this Roman era pseudo-epic that follows the son (Channing Tatum) of a disgraced brigade commander, I couldn’t help but think of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. In that guilty pleasure, Kevin Costner was the lone cast member who spoke without a British accent playing a character who is synonymous with British culture. Similarly, much of The Eagle’s cast shun any attempt to speak with a dialect even remotely akin to what I imagine a Roman like accent should sound like. Any attempt to take the film seriously at this point becomes moot. However, if you examine The Eagle the same way you would to something like a high school play your little sister was playing in, then it is not such bad experience. The fight scenes are adequately exciting and Tatum does a respectable job as the cursed protagonist. Also, the baddies are led by up and coming French actor Tahar Rahim who proves his spectacular turn in A Prophet was no fluke. But it’s the storyline that carries the load in the end. There are enough interesting curves in the plot here to keep this from being a recycled redemption story , which helps it to be slightly better than the best high school play your sister ever starred in.
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