Centurion is the violent, survival, historical war film about Roman survivors lost in the deadly Pictland! One of the historical mysteries is the disappearance of a legion headed north of Roman controlled Britain. It is answered in this historical action pic by writer/director Neil Marshall. He wrote and directed the horror movie, The Descent (2005) and later directed the "Blackwater" episode of Game Thrones. It is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. We hear snowy winds blowing as we see a map of Germania that soon moves to Northern Britain. It is 117 A.D. and the Roman Empire has reached to the frontier. This is where they encountered the Picts, the region is now known as Scotland, it has been 20 years since the empire has been stopped. Now there are orders to invade “by any means necessary”! We move across a snowy field, there is some looming titles, and then into the harsh, winter landscape. Then, we get the bluish white figure of a man, played by Michael Fassbender. The actor is known for playing the younger Erik Lensherr in X-Men: First Class (2011). The man is running, shirtless in the cold, his wrists bound and a bloody cut on his chest! He stumbles and then rolls on the snow.
We get his narration, this is Quintus Dias, “a soldier of Rome.” He says this is not the beginning or the end for him. In media res. Then, we get “2 weeks earlier.” Soldier ride from the fort of Inch-Tuth-Il, the “most northerly garrison.” Quintus is watching from one of the towers as he says it has been two years since he was posted on the frontier. He walks away and notes that the frostbite is taking away soldiers while the Pict King Gorlacon have been conducting hit and run raids. Quintus walks into the camp and notes that it is a “war without honor.” A soldier goes to relieve himself off the walls of the fort. He is horribly killed by a Pict spear! Quintus wakes up in his tent when the alarm is sounded. A flaming arrow loosed by a female archer, her character is named Aeron (Axelle Carolyn) takes a victim. Carolyn is a director, but has starred in the horror movie, Psychosis (2010). The violence of the battle is brutal! A messenger is sent by Quintus on horseback, but another of Aeron’s arrows kills him. Quintus, in his tunic, kills some of the Picts. A burly Pict, named Vortix (Dave Legeno), batters aside his sword and knocks him down. Legeno starred as Fenrir Greyback in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009).
Quintus tells him in Pictish to go to hell. Vortix pulls up Quintus and then knocks him out with a head butt! We then move to an arm wrestling contest at the Ninth Legion garrison in York. This is won by a soldier, Virilus (Dominic West). The actor played Sab Than in John Carter (2012). His opponent (Dhafer L’Abidine) knocks aside the mug of ale to stab a dagger into the table! Virilus’ fellow soldier, Septus (Lee Ross) to watch his back. Grey in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) was portrayed by Ross. The loser wants another match. Virilus asks Septus Virilus slams his hand down again by the dagger, his opponent eyes it, and Virilus stabs his arm with the dagger! The loser’s men stand against Virilus’ soldiers and Septus is given the order. They begin a vicious brawl! In the morning, Virilus has dunked his head into a water barrel. Septus says he shouldn’t be drinking with the men. A messenger rides up and asks Virilus if he was fighting. The envoy of Governor Agricola wants to see the general. Virilus wants to see the message and Septus addresses him as general, General Titus Virilus! The messenger kneels and hands the general the scroll. General Virilus tells Septus, a second of exhaustion, that they are going to war.
Quintus is led by the Picts who are horseback. At night, he is knocked around by the Picts, and then sees Gorlacon (Ulrich Thomsen). The 2011 remake of The Thing starred Thomsen. Quintus explains that he was a farmer until his wife was killed and took revenge as king. He relieves himself into a bucket and Quintus’s face is forced into it! Gorlacon takes his young son (Ryan Atkinson) to know his enemy. A knife carves into Quintus’ chest, the son tries to look away, but Gorlacon makes him watch. Quintus is thrown, his hands tied, into a room of hay. Next, we get Carlisle, the headquarters of Governor Agricola. The governor (Paul Freeman) wants Gorlacon brought as a prisoner. Freeman played Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). General Virius knows that the war is just the ambition for the governor to return to Rome. He just needs to find Gorlacon. Governor Agricola takes the general to meet someone. His aide picks up a dagger, Virilus turns with his sword, but the killer has his hand severed and his throat sliced by the spear wielded by the woman, Etain (Olga Kurylenko). The actress starred as Camille in Quantum of Solace (2008). It was all a display set up by the governor to show the skills of Etain.
She is mute, but assigned as Virilus’ guide to the Picts. Up in the mountains, again we see Quintus on the run, the soldiers are at camp. In the morning, we see the eagle crest of the Ninth Legion. Etain holds sand out and then cuts her hand with a sword, she watches the Ninth head out on horseback. Lightning strikes as the Legion marches into a forest. At a campfire, the jokester Thax (JJ Feild) walks over to Etain, even though he is warned. Feild played James Montgomery Falsworth in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Etain is not amused. In the morning, we see Quintus trying to cut the ropes on a rock, but the Pict horseriders are after him. He continues running on the forest road. On a hill above, Etain sees the chase, later she rides up with Septus reports about the Pict chasing the Roman. Quintus falls to his knees exhausted. A Pict is about to cut his throat, but shouts at General Virilus riding up! The soldiers run down the Picts and a coin toss determines who will take care of the last Pict. General Virilus points out that Etain saved Quintus. At night, Quintus now washed up and in armor, reports to the general. He is calling on Quintus to return to find Gorlacon. Quintus says his father was a gladiator and won his freedom.
He introduces Centurion Quintus to the group with Etain sitting apart from them. The other soldier is Bothos played by David Morrissey. The Governor in The Walking Dead was played by Morrissey. Quintus is impressed at the loyalty of the men to General Virilus. A misty morning and the Ninth Legion continues to march. They are watched by a Pict rider as they enter a forest. Etain broodily watches the general before continuing into the mist with the scouts. A pine tree falls in front of the column, a trap!, the legion forms up. Septus calls on the shield formation with spears pointed outwards. They hear shouting and horns in the mist. General Virilus orders Quintus to relay the order for the rear detachment to retreat. Septus repeats, “Watching.” From the top of the hills surrounding them, several balls of fire, boulder-sized, crash into the formations! Picts run down screaming! It’s a gore splattered battle! Quintus is unhorsed, falls in a ravine, and then bodies of soldiers stack on top of him! General Virilus is pulled down from his horse. Etain rides up to Gorlacon on a hill. In the aftermath, Quintus reaches and pulled out of the mass of bodies by Bothos. He in turn says he was saved by Brick. Liam Cunningham plays the veteran soldier and also Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones.
The trio look down from a hill to see the landscape of corpses. They are joined by Thax and two other soldiers; Macros (Noel Clarke) and Leonidas, a scout. Clark is known for playing Mickey Smith in Doctor Who. Leonidas was also in Doctor Who for “The God Complex” (2011) episode. Leonidas says he saw the general taken prisoner. A remaining Pict screams after them, but killed by the axe thrown by a Roman in a tunic. He says his name is Tarak (Riz Ahmed) and he’s a cook! Ahmed played Bodhi Rook in Rogue One (2016). Quintas tells them to scavenge supplies and to lose their armor for the hunt to find the general. They run through the forest and Macros takes the lead. Tarak tells Quintus that Macros was a marathon runner! We see a Pict hunting party pass by a leafy area that perfectly hides the camoflagued soldiers! They reach a river and begin taking the fresh water when they hear a horse. Aeron with her bow and Etain with an axe hunt down two Roman Centurions. Their blood flows past the others taking cover by a fallen tree. It is an almost impossible hunt to slip through Pict lines to find the general and then somehow return to Roman controlled lands! A powerful and ruthless performance by Olga Kurylenko! The Centurion is a relentless chase through blood-splattered conflicts with a group of soldiers and survivors led by Quintus Dias, played by Michael Fassbender!
Five Axes out of Five!
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