James R | On 17, Oct 2014

Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, Olga Kurylenko, David Morrissey, Liam Cunningham
Certificate: 15

Scotland’s tourist board must love Neil Marshall. In 2002, he introduced a group of men in the Highland woods to werewolves. Then, in The Descent, a group of friends to a bunch of cave monsters in the Scottish mountains. And now, fascinated with Hadrian’s Wall, he’s back again on Scottish soil for more conflict, although this time it’s different: it involves Romans.

Centurion focuses on the fate of the Ninth Legion – who, according to legend, disappeared without a trace in 117 AD. Filling the historical gaps with a lot of action, Marshall’s imagined account see Quintus Dias (Fassbender) survive a raid by a tribe called the Picts. He then joins with the Ninth to march north and wipe out the resistance. But as they travel through unfamiliar woods, the Picts wipe out the troops, taking General Virilius (West) as their prisoner. Quintus soon finds himself in a small band of survivors, determined to free the General and make it out from behind enemy lines alive.

With the silent and deadly tracker Etain (Kurylenko) on their heels, Centurion’s pretty much a chase film – there’s barely a moment when people aren’t running somewhere. Pausing briefly for an introductory fireside chat, Marshall’s camera steamrolls through Scottish landscapes, throwing arrows, spears, axes and knives at his resilient bunch of warriors.

The blokes acquit themselves well. Indeed, it’s telling that most of the cast (like their director) have gone on to become a lot more well known. The charismatic Dominic West is a boisterous contrast to Fassbender’s steely hero; younger cast members such as Riz Ahmed get enough screen-time to make a proper impact; Marshall veteran Liam Cunningham (also a Game of Thrones regular) is a reliably grizzly presence; and it’s a pleasure to see David Morrissey offered this kind of role (which led, perhaps, to The Walking Dead’s Governor). What are the soldiers’ names? You won’t remember, but that’s not really the point.

Staying loosely faithful to period weapons and clothing (woad is a must for these fictitious hunters), the production’s strength comes from old-school prosthetics, live-action stunts and low-budget scraps. With less money to play with, Marshall follows his underwhelming blockbuster Doomsday with grit and fervour. It’s clearly influenced by Gladiator and its successors, but this historical epic sticks to the small scale, happy to replace Roman sand with Scottish mud. And yet it’s not without spectacle – the Picts’ early fiery ambush is a stunning sequence. An attempt at a romantic subplot strikes a bum note, but the rest of Centurion is extremely tense. Sacrificing character for action, the result is a British B-movie with clout – a 90-minute dash to the finish that feels closer to 60.

 

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