Film Review The Eagle
By emphasizing the human drama and not action music, “The Eagle” Kevin McDonald manages to interest due to its moral issues and not only his many battles. For once a movie is significantly higher than its trailer.
A Roman legion disappeared in northern Great Britain. Seeking to shed light on the unexplained phenomenon in the hope of finding an important landmark, the centurion Marcus (Channing Tatum) and his slave Esca (Jamie Bell) decide to explore this unknown land.
Last summer moviegoers at the festival were able to discover Fantasia “Centurion”, which explored much the same subject. In the hands of director Neil Marshall (“The Descent”), this became a story of survival. The creator of the relevant “The Last King of Scotland” and “State of Play”, Kevin McDonald, for his part was based on the novel “The Eagle of the Ninth”(no, he was not talking about golf) Rosemary Sutcliff.
Instead of being a simple action film, the plot proves rich in human terms, exploring the guilt of a son toward his father. In fact it is possible to take everything on a political level, each time replacing the word “Rome” with “United States” and “Great Britain”: the great powers that have not only planted on his way to happiness.
Fans of the genre will be swayed by the overwhelming importance given to words and dialogues. Initially the main character tries to shed light on his past, then he learns to consider his slave as a friend. A treatment that is not always the lace (the rate can be laborious), but which is in its original way of exploring the psychology of its people.
In this context the choice of Channing Tatum may seem surprising. The popular actor is not the most gifted to convey emotions and it does not always match that of the most talented Jamie Bell. The rest of the cast – which is not always used to its fair value – includes excellent Shuterland Donald, Mark Strong and Tahar Rahim, the revelation of “A prophet”.
The story also has its share of impressive confrontations. Chaos reigns on the battlefield, there are many impressive military strategies that can recall the comic “Asterix” and a particularly mind-blowing final. Especially since the setting is rigorous, meticulous still photography, like the musical choices that avoid most of the time the excess.
Unlike “Ben-Hur”, “Spartacus” and other “Gladiator”, “The Eagle” is not an attempt to deliver to the agenda the peplum. It is rather a metaphor for the honor and the war that takes place only at a time when swords and bows were leading the dance. Although not as powerful as it could have been, the result surprised positively, do not unnecessarily lose in the massacres that are too often pervasive.
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