Mailbag Round-Up: The Last Legion

Dec 18, 2007- Permalink

Every once in a while, an epic historical movie comes along that stirs the soul and moves the heart. This is NOT that movie.

The Last Legion weaves the fall of the Roman Empire into the Arthurian legend by following the life of the young Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus (Thomas Sangster), his mentor Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley), his sworn defender Aurelius (Colin Firth) and a beautiful, deadly female warrior, Mira (Aishwarya Rai).

Rome has fallen to the invading Goths and Firth and his loyal soldiers take a stand to defend the final Caesar after making their way to the last legion in Britannia. Unfortunately, the Goths must have looted the film’s budget as well. What should be epic battles seem to involve a few hundred combatants without the CGI-generated swarms of warriors we’re now used to. There are also a few visual effects shots here that even a first year computer animation student would decide not to submit for marks.

What should be a sweeping epic instead comes across like a TV movie from the History Channel and perhaps this film works better as a DVD then as a big screen experience, especially as it only clocks in at just over 90 minutes. It’s the sort of film you’d find yourself watching on a Sunday afternoon when it’s raining out. It’s mildly entertaining, elicits a few chuckles (both intentional and not), and Firth is likable as ever. It just never attains the grandeur we expect from this sort of film.

It’s pretty easy to see how they assembled such an all-star cast. Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai was looking for another foot in Hollywood’s door. Ben Kingsley was looking for a cheque. Finally, Colin Firth thought that this might be his only chance to play a Roman general and if someone was going to offer him an action film, he better take it.

Even the extras feel a bit half-hearted. A few deleted scenes. Some raw footage of fight choreography. A trailer and a “Making of…” segment.

The Last Legion probably won’t hurt too many people’s careers. Audiences would have to see it first for that to happen.