28 March 2016
The Eagle
- Director: Kevin Macdonald
- Based on book by Rosemary Sutcliff.
- Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Paul Ritter
- Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
- Channing Tatum – Jupiter Ascending, Public Enemies, Battle in Seattle
- Jamie Bell – Filth, Jane Eyre, Defiance, Hallam Foe, King Kong, Dear Wendy, Undertow, Billy Elliot
- Paul Ritter –Wolf Hall, Friday Night Dinner, Bletchley Circle, The Hollow Crown, Great Expectations, Nowhere Boy, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Quantum of Solace, Son of Rambow, The Girl in the Café, The Libertine
- Why? Jamie Bell
- Seen: 25 March 2016
Little Billy Elliot just turned thirty the other day. And has played all kinds of interesting roles since his enormous breakthrough.
Roman Britain. Aha. Hadrian’s Wall. Very interesting.
Or not? As usual I fall asleep during the battle, which takes place in the first twenty minutes. The hero, Channing Tatum, is noble, brave, earnest, loyal….and dull.
Jamie Bell is a slave, Esca, who refuses to fight. Gallant Marcus (Tatum) saves his life. Esca reluctantly becomes his slave.
Tatum and his uncle Donald Sutherland are annoyingly American as are others in the cast.
Honour and eagles and macho men. Ho hum.
Alone Marcus and Esca start off to rescue the stolen Eagle, important symbol of Rome, heading north to the Picts. I’ve always liked the Picts. Maybe now it will become interesting. At least the landscape is impressive. It does indeed become more interesting when they meet the Picts. It’s a bit dreamy and mystical.
It’s a great pity that they cast Channing Tatum in the lead. He’s probably a very nice person but on the screen he has zero charisma. Jamie Bell goes a long way in raising the charisma quotient but he can’t do everything.
It’s a very odd film with a muddled rambling story. With its historical conflict it could have been very good. As it is Jamie Bell is its main strength.
2 ½ * of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment