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The Last Legion
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Charming but ultimately dull sword and sandals adventure, based on the novel by Valero Manfredi, about the ancient Roman roots of King Arthur. Director Doug Lefler and screenwriters Jez Butterworth and Tom Butterworth spin a fictional epic about young Romulus Augustus, who fortunately finds the sword of Julius Caesar, named Excaliburum, and even more fortunately heads to Britain. Violence merely confined to bloodless swordfights. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG-13) 2007
In an earlier age, "The Last Legion" (Weinstein) would be a sword and sandals adventure in which audiences expected Robert Taylor, Jean Simmons, a cast of thousands and maybe some chariots and a slave revolt.
But director Doug Lefler and screenwriters Jez Butterworth and Tom Butterworth evidently didn't even have a budget for fake blood. The result is a sometimes charming, but ultimately dull, epic with leaden dialogue about the ancient Roman roots of King Arthur.
It's A.D. 460. Young Romulus Augustus (Thomas Sangster) is crowned emperor of Rome, but he's only king for a day because the Goths come a-pillagin', killing his parents and everyone else in sight. You can tell, because swords are flashed and bodies pile up, but overt violence is nil.
Fortunately for the lad, some of his legionnaires, led by Aurelius (Colin Firth), are still loyal, and spirit him away to Capri, which, he is told, was one of Julius Caesar's prisons. But ho! It's more like Caesar's palace, and if one presses Caesar's eye in his mosaic, one ends up at a statue of old Caesar himself holding Excaliburum, a powerful magic sword.
All that's left now is to high-tail it to Brittania where there's one remaining legion loyal to Romulus and bad guy Vortgyn (Harry Van Gorkum), who sports a shimmering gold mask. Will Romulus leave his sword in a stone, one wonders?
Support comes from a decidedly hammy Ben Kingsley as Ambrosinus (or Merlin, if you prefer), who is given to platitudes such as "Every living creature has a destiny. Be sure of it." Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai as warrior princess Mira lends the exotic touch. Her character is so asexual, though, that the anticipated romance between her and Aurelius is never developed.
Eight-year-old boys will enjoy the fighting sequences but likely will fidget after the first hour. Older audience members will wait in vain for Jean Simmons.
The film contains violence merely confined to bloodless swordfights. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.
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