Twenty years after the fabled Ninth Legion marched north to destruction, the son of the legion’s commander is posted to Britain in his turn. Marcus Flavius Aquila (Channing Tatum) has long dreamed of restoring his family’s honor through military service. When he is unwillingly mustered out because of a debilitating leg wound, he fixes instead on a seemingly impossible task: go north, far beyond Hadrian’s Wall to the land of the bloodthirsty Picts, to recover the eagle that was the standard of the lost legion. His only companion will be his new slave, a Briton named Esca (Jamie Bell) who owes Marcus his life
“The Eagle” is a story about Roman conquest, and as you can imagine, there are some prominent battle sequences. Overall these scenes look like leftovers from the opening battle from “Gladiator”, except with all of the violence missing. You see swords swinging, but the film cuts away before the blades actually slice through anything, and then you’re on to the next Centurion about to hack into someone, and the same thing happens. There are no causal connections at all. It’s as if, in every moment, a handful of frames have been lost. You could watch these fights and say that with all of these armed attacks, you never see anyone get injured. Not only are there no consequences, but this approach also gives the film a jagged, uneven feel, that makes it jarring to watch. Action is the only thing that could have saved “The Eagle”, but for a movie marketed on the epic action movie platform (you can see direct lifts from “Gladiator”, “Braveheart”, and “Lord of the Rings”, among others), there is woefully little of it. The weakest parts of the film are the acting and the story, and those take up the vast majority of the nearly two-hour run time.
The film is well directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, State of Play) and well written. Consider the short opening sequence that serves as preamble to the main story. It efficiently and adroitly establishes the setting, introduces Marcus (personality, professionalism, family background), and deftly works in details that bring place, character, and culture to life. The sequence culminates in a thrilling action set-piece that further illuminates the hero’s character and not incidentally demonstrates the Britons’ fury and Rome’s military advantage.
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