The movie "The Last Legion" was a good epic, just not as good as the more recent ones. Here we see Colin Firth as a Roman soldier and Commander. The flawless Ben Kingsley as Merlin and Aishwarya Rai as a soldier from Constantinople originally from Kerla, India named Mira. The film is loosely based on a novel with the same name.
The film is loosely based on 5th century European history, primarily that of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire under its last emperor, Romulus Augustus. This along with other items from the history of Britain and elements from the legend of Arthur provides a prelude for King Arthur to arrive.
The movie begins before the coronation of Romulus as emperor in 460. His father, Orestes, is the commanding general of the Roman army. Odoacer, leader of the barbarian foederati army, makes certain demands on Orestes the night prior to coronation, which Orestes rebuffs.
On the day of the coronation, Rome is attacked by the barbarians, Orestes is killed, and Romulus is exiled to Capri along with his shamanistic advisor Ambrosinus (Merlin). His prison is a villa constructed more than four centuries earlier by the emperor Tiberius. Romulus finds a hidden chamber in the villa with a statue of Julius Caesar holding a sword he had forged after his military campaigns in Britain.
Romulus is rescued by the Aurelius and some legionaries, along with the BEAUTIFUL East Indian warrior named Mira. They take Romulus to a seaport where the Eastern Roman Empire's ambassador has promised safe passage to Constantinople. However, Romulus and his loyalists barely escape after they learn the Byzantines have betrayed them and sided with Odacer.
Romulus and Aurelius seek refuge in Britain, where the Ninth Legion remains loyal. The party travels to Hadrian's Wall and finds no evidence of the Dragon Legion until a farmer approaches and reveals that he was the legion's commander.
Vortigen (British warlord) desperately wants the sword of Romulus to bolster his legitimacy as the ruler of Britain and kill Romulus as a gesture to Odacer. Romulus along with his faithful and few supporters mount a battle against Vortigen at Hadrian's Wall which appears hopeless until the Ninth Legion takes up its old Roman arms and uniforms and turns the tide of the battle. The two warring sides cease their hostilities when Ambrosinus kills Vortigen at a temple near the battlefield. That was a great scene. (We saw Merlin as a warrior).
Being sickened by the deaths in the battle and even the men he had to kill, the young Romulus flings away his sword and it pierces a large rock. Years later, Ambrosinus, also known as Merlin takes a young boy to the battlefield to describe the now legendary events. The boy asks what happened to Romulus. Merlin says he became a wise ruler and adopted the name Pendragon which the boy marvels is his family name.
The movie was a great epic. The acting was good but could have been done a little better. The action was out of this world. All in all, I think I would reccomend anyone to watch it. I enjoyed it.
2 comments:
Hello Sam, first of all I'd like to say you have a great page going here. I recently saw The Last Legion as well and thought most of it was fairly enjoyable, with a few exceptions. I agree that the acting was good, but could've been way better with those stars in the cast. The storyline was exciting, yet there were some points where the dialogue went by too quickly and the main point of some of the action-packed scenes flew over my head (maybe it was the deep English accents). I'm a huge fan of epic-based movies and Aishwarya Rai so I did like the movie on the whole. I hope her upcoming movies can showcase her talents a bit more for the American public.
I know what you mean. I love Miss Rai although, she is now a MRS. lol, she needs to work on her acting.
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