In this film, Britain, ruled by the Romans, was facing a bad course at some point in history. One day, a young Roman soldier was trying to honor his father's memory by finding his lost gold ring and dealing with it in the memories of his lost father.
Wild-eyed, long-haired Brits leap atop the Romans' shields as the soldiers blindly hack away, the bodies so close that you can barely tell the victor from the vanquished. The battles in the fog and rain have a hallucinatory power.
It really all comes down to the story. Just like Tatum wasn't up to the task of bringing the character to life, the filmmakers weren't up to the task of bringing the story to life, and that makes all the difference.
The story sags in the middle, as our wanderers traipse through the highlands-not a happy environment for Tatum, who, before his journey even begins, looks all at sea in this distant age.
It's a video game, after all: Dull sensation, easily recognizable and comforting images and a total lack of recollection of what it is you were just doing within seconds of it being over.
However you slice it, The Eagle is hokum, but modern-day Scots may get a kick out of the film's depiction of their ancestors as mud-caked hellions. Modern-day Romans will have to settle for less.
The latest sandals-and-swords outing, "The Eagle" has landed . . . with a thud.
Cinematical
February 09, 2012
'The Eagle' will likely find a future life on the video shelves of high school history teachers looking for a semi-educational way to kill a couple of days worth of classes.
Despite its bleak atmosphere and sparse storyline, period drama The Eagle is a pleasant surprise. It entertains with some great sword play, and the themes of honor and bravery overcome the simplicity of the story.