The Eagle isn’t a terrible film, or even a bad one. It just isn’t especially a good one.
We have most of the elements of what ought to be a good movie, though. We have a great plot, based on the young adult fictional novel The Eagle of the Ninth, which centers around Marcus Flavius Arelius, a young Roman officer, played by Channing Tatum, sent to his first command in Roman-conquered Britain.
20 years earlier his father led the 9th Legion into the north and were lost, losing their emblematic Roman Eagle, which had never happened in the history of the Empire. In response, Rome built Hadrian’s Wall to signify the “end of the world” and to both cut off the Britons above the wall and protect Roman conquest below it. That’s the story of the film, not necessarily history, (although loosely based on some historical events) but let’s go with it, shall we?
With his family dishonored, Marcus and his British slave Esca must travel above the wall and recover the Eagle to restore honor to both family and empire. Sounds cool, huh?
Well, it is. To a certain extent. And the direction here by Kevin MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void), himself Scottish, is excellent. The action scenes are well put together and exciting. However, this film doesn’t have the guts to be Gladiator or Braveheart– literally. The obvious constraints of trying to make this a PG-13 movie hurt this in many ways. Supposedly there is a lot left on the cutting room floor, so we may need to wait for the Blu-ray/DVD to really understand the director’s vision here. This may be a refreshing change to many who don’t like the typical R-rated violence you would expect from a film about the conquests of Rome, but it felt disjointed and some of the cuts seemed jumpy.
What Hollywood also needs to understand is that is they keep putting mediocre talent like Tatum (or worse, Sam Worthington) in leading roles you will continue to get mediocre films. I found myself interested in the quest, and the themes, but not the fate of the main character. While I was rooting for him at the beginning of the movie, there were times when he was in peril later in the film where I was seriously ambivalent about whether he lived or died. Esca, the slave, became the more interesting character, thanks to a better performance by Jamie Bell, and the one who I was rooting for.
They’re also backed up by an amazing supporting cast, most of whom seem too good for this film: Donald Sutherland plays Aquila, Marcus’ uncle, veteran character actors like Denis O’Hare, and a great performance by Mark Strong (Kick-Ass, Sherlock Holmes, and this summer’s Green Lantern) round out this cast and would make up for Tatum’s woody performance if only he weren’t in almost every scene in the movie, and they are not.
My somewhat ambivalnce towards The Eagle might be partially because of one of the themes which becomes a bit muddied in the film. We get nearly beat over the head with the theme of honor: to one’s country, family, to self. And it’s very, very good. But a subtext about empire and its dangers and the violence necessary to perpetuate it might have hit a better chord if it were more developed. I think that’s a good commentary, especially since this seems tailored to an American audience who might need to hear that message given world events, but unfortunately one that may go over most audiences’ heads.
Overall, this is a film better than most of the fare we usually get in February, so in that sense it is surprising and enjoyable. However, I can’t in good conscience recommend that everyone rush out and see this when truly great films like The King’s Speech and True Grit are still playing.
The Eagle opens wide this Friday, Feb 11—might I recommend you watch it at someplace like the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, or Brewvies, home to the Big Movie Mouth Off, for those of you in SLC, as I believe a few beers will make this movie even more enjoyable.
2 ½ stars
The Eagle is rated PG-13 for battle sequences and some disturbing images.
From the Distributor:
A Focus Features presentation in association with Film4 of a Duncan Kenworthy production. Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell. The Eagle. Donald Sutherland, Mark Strong. Casting by Jina Jay. Music by Atli Örvarsson. Costumes by Michael O’Connor. Editor, Justine Wright. Production Designer, Michael Carlin. Director of Photography, Anthony Dod Mantle, BSC, DFF. Co-Producer, Caroline Hewitt. Executive Producers, Tessa Ross, Miles Ketley, Charles Moore. Based on the novel The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff. Screenplay by Jeremy Brock. Produced by Duncan Kenworthy. Directed by Kevin Macdonald. A Focus Features Release.
For more, please visit http://focusfeatures.com/the_eagle