New Review: The Eagle

Roman Holiday

It can be tough in the early months of the new year. I’m of course mainly speaking on the movie-going front, as from about January through April, the hits are spare; few and far between the duds that represent why this period is so often referred to as the “dumping” period. It’s usually why I tend not to see too many films during this period, but I try my best anyway. In the lead up to the Academy Awards, I caught this film, which I believed had a pretty good pedigree to be successful. The results don’t really come together very well, but I do think there’s enough here to make this one of the year’s first entertaining recommendations.

It’s second century AD, with the Roman empire sweeping vast across the land. Here it lands in Britain, currently occupying the Scottish territories. Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) is the son of the commander who was part of the infamous Ninth Legion, the platoon that lost the golden eagle that stood as a symbol of Roman dominance. Aquila, seeking to clear his father’s reputation, eventually goes out to look for the idol. He takes along his journey a slave, Esca (Jamie Bell), who’s a native of the land and could potentially help Marcus with the customs. But there’s a justified animosity between the two, eventually leading to an understanding about the two of them.

This is a movie that seems to strive for a type of filmmaking that blends the modern and nostalgic. It’s action scenes and shallow plot are reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, while the heavy tone is a throwback to the robed dramas of Hollywood’s heyday. Kevin Macdonald isn’t as accomplished a filmmaker as Scott, but he does create some really tense action scenes that are equally impressive as some of the quieter emotional moments. However, he still cannot save a very odd and inconsistent pace of the film, and much of its momentum cannot be held. There’s a slow burn to get the film going, and whenever a good piece of cinema starts to reveal itself, the pace starts to crawl again. It’s a delicate juggling act that the filmmakers never really get a handle on.

Tatum actually shows potential here as a promising actor, though his career has been a very uneven one as well. He doesn’t show quite enough depth to make this character fully fleshed-out, but he makes enough of an effort to to make him believable at least in the amount of complexity the film has to offer. Bell comes of quite impressive, as no challenge to him, though he isn’t given quite enough range to get the best out of his character. Same goes for Donald Sutherland who sleepwalks through the role of Marcus’s uncle. There’s a few reliable character actors here and there, but they’re generally just window dressing.

The film has a lot of pacing issues, is shallow when it comes to the depth of the acting, features some poor plot developments, and as a side note comes very close to the line of exploiting child endangerment. Still, most of it comes together to make a film that, if nothing else, accomplishes the simple task of being entertaining. The action is taut, the acting is capable enough, and I think at the end of the day, you’ll have a good time with it. Nowhere near a masterpiece, but in the vast dumping ground wasteland, you could certainly do worse.

B