Romans (with wonderful British accents) are the invaders in 117 AD Britain and the native Picts are at battle with the foreigners. The Romans are hard pressed to match the stealth, skill and savagery of the Picts in warfare and Rome sends in its Ninth Legion to contain the situation. Titus Flavius is the commander of the Legion and is relying on the knowledge and instincts of a local girl, Etain, to lead his men into hostile territory.
Along the way they come across Quintus Dais, a Roman soldier who has escaped his Pict captors and agrees to help them. Not soon after, the Legion is ambushed and soldiers massacred by the Picts. Titus Flavius is captured. Only Quintus Dais and a few more soldiers survive. They resolve to bring back their beloved commander and escape, but in process the son of the Picts’ leader is accidently killed. The men must now play a cat-and-mouse game with the Picts’ best warriors and find their way back to Roman territory.
The fate of the Ninth Legion has long been a source of debate among historians and multiple theories ranging from super fanciful to extremely logical have been proposed. However, don’t expect filmmakers to settle for mundane theories. They must romanticize events that more likely were as simple as 'the soldiers wandered away, integrated with the locals and settled down'.
Consequently, Centurion is less about historical accuracy and more about delivering what the public wants. This is essentially an action-adventure flick that happens to be set against the struggles between Romans and Picts. The screenplay is quick and the action is gory. With the right marketing budget this would have been a blockbuster.
Michael Fassbender is a pleasure to watch. After the silly character he played in Inglourious Basterds, his quiet turn as the courageous and noble Quintus Dias is very welcome.
Dominic West is beefy and macho as the heroic Titus Flavius.
The true scene stealer here though is Olga Kurylenko as Etain. She has a short but powerful role as the brutalized, vengeful, seething Etain. Her eyes spit fire and her slight frame quivers with the intensity of the hatred burning within. She is the hunter terrorizing the hard-boiled soldiers and it is an unbelievable transformation from the one-dimensional action-girl role in Quantum of Solace.
Good fun and highly recommended.
