THE EAGLE

With Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Denis O'Hare, Julian Lewis Jones

Written by Jeremy Brock (based on the novel by Rosemary Sutcliff)
Directed by Kevin MacDonald

After Gladiator and TV series like Rome, interest in the historic period of Caesar rule remains an exciting one for movie-makers, including Neil Marshall's Centurion, and this quest movie, The Eagle. Here in 2nd century Britain, an officer in a Roman occupying legion has a dark shadow hanging over him in the shape of his father's regiment disappearing years back, and with it, the golden eagle crest. For both closure and to prove he has what it takes, he sets out to retrieve the eagle, and with it his dignity. Along for the undercover mission and to guide him infiltrating the indigenous British territory, he is accompanied by a slave he saved from a gladiator death.

Predominantly making documentaries and gaining acclaim with Touching The Void, director MacDonald also had the world sit up and take notice with his narrative debut The Last King Of Scotland. His strong political interest (also present in Sate Of Play), it continues here, albeit several millenniums back.

3 / B
Paul Blom

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
- A - B - C

A: Multiple Viewing Potential
B: Deserves Another Look
C: Once Should Suffice