The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Features  |  Reviews
FIND MOVIES
Find a Movie
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies

The Last Legion

A load of poppycock
By TOM MEEK  |  August 22, 2007
2.0 2.0 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for The Last Legion.

If Laurence Olivier tried to maintain his Shakespearian mien doing Conan the Barbarian, he couldn’t look any more uncomfortable than the cast of The Last Legion. Colin Firth plays General Aurelius and Ben Kingsley does his best as the sorcerer Ambrosinus, two diehard loyalists serving the last Caesar (Thomas Sangster), a mere boy, after Rome is sacked by the Goths in the fifth century. They propose to save him by retreating to the last Roman outpost, Britannia. Then matters get a little complicated, since the film is based on Valerio Manfredi’s novel, which tries to hitch Arthurian lore to the fall of the Roman Empire the same way The Da Vinci Code rescripted Jesus’s bloodline. The battle scenes look ho-hum in the wake of 300, as director Doug Lefler sticks stolidly to the old school. Firth’s grizzled soldier, however, holds the poppycock together, and Bollywood bombshell Aishwarya Rai holds the eye as warrior and love interest.
Related: Jane II, When Did You Last See Your Father?, Critical lapses, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Movies, War Films,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: NINJA ASSASSIN  |  November 25, 2009
    So much blood splashes across the screen in James McTeigue’s martial-arts madness, you’d think the human body consisted of nothing but.
  •   CANNONBALL QUIETS HARVARD QUAD  |  November 04, 2009
    It’s been awhile since we had to worry about the multi-colored national danger spectrum, but last week, the northwestern quadrant of Harvard Square was put on high alert.
  •   REVIEW: WARREN MILLER'S DYNASTY  |  November 04, 2009
    How many death-defying stunts can one behold before they become repetitious? Quite a few, it would seem.
  •   REVIEW: SAW VI  |  October 30, 2009
    Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), the self-righteous serial killer of the long-toothed franchise, may have succumbed to cancer a few films back, but he remains very much alive in plot and presence.
  •   REVIEW: MOTHERHOOD  |  October 22, 2009
    Being a mother can be stressful.

 See all articles by: TOM MEEK

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group