The Last Legion Movie Reviews

I think that the Last Legion was the dumbest movie ever because Colin Firth is not a warrior and should never become one ever again. Stupid, Dumb and lazy these are the words that come to mind when I here the title of this movie and feel like I need to vomit so I can feel better.

Never again should a movie like this come on EVER AGAIN. If someone ever makes a movie like this again at least have someone from 300 play the lead role but not Colin Firth. So remember this when you read this.Thank you for your time see you on your next review when you make somthing this stupid and weak again

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What could Mr. Darcy and Gandalf have in common? Other than the plummy British accent, they and/or derivatives of themselves have somehow crept into this mish-mash of a movie.

Set when the Roman empire is crumbling, a young Romulus Augustus(Thomas Sangster), the last of the Caesars, is crowned as emperor. The Roman empire has come under the predatory eye of some Goths(presumably), who ravage the palace, kill all of the little Caesar's protectors and imprison him alongwith his teacher, the mysterious Ambrosinus(Ben Kingsley), on the isle of Capri. Caesar's personal bodyguard Marcus Aurelius(Colin Firth) sets out with his men and an Eastern warrior Mira(Aishwarya Rai) to set Caesar free and carry him off to Britannia where the Emperor's 9th Legion awaits. Arriving in the British Isles, they find that the Dragon Legion has crumbled, decimated by the evil Lord Vortgyn, the surviving legionnaries now content to farm and raise their families. Vortygyn makes a deal with the Goths offering them Caesar in exchange for a sword he carries. As the Goths and the English lord march against the legion, it is a handful of men who stand with Aurelius and Caesar as they make a desperate stand to save the last of the Roman empire.

Peter Jackson has spoiled it for everyone. What chance does any reasonable sword-fighting/sorcerer/fantasy movie have when pitted against the brilliant cinematic adaptation of the Lord Of the Rings. While the Last Legion is not even in the same genre, it suffers so much from LOTR overtones that it never does manage to carve an identity of its own. The Last Legion apparently took 6 years to write, and it shows. Directed by Doug Lefler the script and/or the poor editing combined make it an average watch. The Goths rampaging, look like a cheap set, the murder of the young Caesar's parents takes on a farcical meaning when accompanied by mediocre acting and the starting scenes set the stage for the rest of the movie.

Coming to the principal characters themselves, I cannot fathom why Aishwarya Rai chose to do this movie. I can understand that the movie came along at the right time, and I'm sure the script to some extent met all her restrictions plus having an Indian part written in. But the poor girl must be deluded to imagine that this would gain her more than a precarious toehold into Hollywood. Oh, she does look beautiful - in fact, very exotically so and very warrior-like when she just poses with weapons in hand. And, she also acts well enough too, but in the action parts looks like a very girly-girl playing at swords - not convincing!

However, I still think she is the best thing to happen to this movie, because the others are so much worse than her. Much as it pains me to say this, Colin Firth just looks like a very aged Mr. Darcy declamating with a sword. I did notice one of the character parts had the actor who played Wickham in the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice. Oh, what fun Austen conversations(Colin Firth playing Darcy in P&P, Rai as the indian version of elizabeth in B&P) these actors probably had on the sets, however, no one seems that invested or interested in the current story. Though Rai does try very hard - there is a close combat scene between the two principals but neither of them generate enough heat to convince that they are remotely interested in each other. Ben Kingsley got the rawest deal of them all. He's been dressed as Gandalf, given the staff, the flowing robes, the hair, supposed to be a sorcerer like Gandalf, then almost as an after-thought told that his character is Ambrosinus. Who? You may well ask, no wonder Kingsley has an identity crisis and it doubtless affected his acting.

The stand that the LastLegion makes is so like the Battle of Helm's Deep that I almost expected the'ta-da-ta-daaaah' horn of the Riders of Rohan to blow in one of the scenes. The other parallels were too heavy for me to ignore - the warring Orc look-alike peasants, Ambrosinus performing sorcery on the castle walls ala Gandalf, a partnership between two of Aurelius's men echoing Legolas and Gimli(notice that I'm more familiar with the LOTR characters than the Last Legion, oh well), surging the castle walls with ladders, battering rams and of course a Riders of Rohan bit at the end to save the day. A single legionnary formation is also shown, in case the inattentive viewer forgets that this is a battle fought by Romans as opposed to Middle Earth.

The Last Legion also tries to tie in the last of the Romans with the Arthurian legends. This brings in that little fantasy element, which I might have enjoyed if the script-writer and director did not make ham-handed efforts to make sure the viewer GOT the connection. The movie starts with the legend of a sword of Caesar, this is pretty much forgotten till the pint-size Caesar gets his grimy hands on one, more swordless scenes until the end where we are beaten on the head with encrusted sword, Arthur, sword, Pendragon, Merlin and finally a close-up of the sword with the words Excalibur on it. Doh!

So finally, if ever you find the need to watch a movie which has no violence, no sex, some fantasy, some legend, some decent sword-fighting and the beautiful Ms. Bacchan nee Rai, you know which movie to check out from the video store. For the rest, I wonder if anyone can explain the decision to replace Rai's naturally attractive eye colour to a vivid blue which looks alien to her looks and coloring.

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There are many, many films about Excalibur, the legendary sword of antiquity fortified with an invisible but potent layer of Caesar-y goodness, but only one with Aishwarya Rai as a sexy lady-warrior, a pint-sized, adorable li'l Caesar(Thomas Sangster), and Ben Kingsley running around with grayish-white hair, a staff, and long flowing white robes like a obsessive Gandalf fan at a third-rate comic-book convention.

Though it's never wise to underestimate the power or universal appeal of Rai's miniature cleavage, cute Jerry-ish(ref: Tom & Jerry) looks, and lustrous hair, The Last Legion is an extrememly mediocre sword-toga-and-sandal epic about the origins of Camelot.

Clearly biding his time unhappily between Bridget Jones sequels and more highbrow period epics, a disinterested Colin Firth stars as a Roman warrior(Marcus Aurelius, i.e. Gladiator?) charged with protecting child emperor Sangster. When barbarians invade and imprison Sangster alongside wise mentor/bootleg Gandalf Kingsley, Firth teams up with Rai and a multicultural Sexy Roman Adventure Squad to free him.

The invasion renders Firth and his band of warrior outlaws without a country, so, Excalibur in tow, they sail to Britannia and continue to battle for the values of the Roman Empire.

Rai is a ravishing object of desire for about 3/4th of the movie, after which her pseudo Xena-ish appeal is replaced with aging-aunty-in-need. Her chemistry with Firth is nonexistent. When Rai and Firth stop feuding and crossing swords long enough to bed each other, they seem motivated by a perfunctory sense of obligation rather than passion.

In its depiction of noble but outmatched Romans fighting a hiss-worthy barbarian horde, Legion faintly echoes 300 and a lot other succesful epics, but without the comic-book élan and crowd-pleasing flair for stylish ultra-violence.

In Gladiator, Russel Crowe made Marcus Aurelius a hero. In Last Legion, Marcus appears nothing more than an everyday soldier with some faithful supporters.

If green-screen bloodbaths like 300 represent the future of adventure epics, then The Last Legion embodies an obsolete, creaky, tradition-bound past we sooo want to forget.

Money has been spent on background, a few props and scenery, but don't waste money on theatre. If you still want to watch it, rent it out. Cheers!

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What is a prophecy? "It is the Trust and Faith", tells the movie The Last Legion. A question is asked, when we do the prophecy, how we know the things will happen on time? Answer from the visionary is that "...after us what happens is not in our hands. We keep the light in the lamp and what happens to the lamp after we left will depend on the destiny of the lamp". The Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, Aishwarya Rai starrerThe Last Legion is a movie of one of such prophecies which come true.

Before and after Christ, there had many prophets whose duty is to observe, judge and predict things in advance. The prophecy by them is much valued and they were treated well by Kingdoms. In fact the long vision of these prophets was the base for the success of many empires existed then. The Last Legion takes place around AD460 to AD490, by the end of the Roman Empire. Roman Empire is under threat and there had 5 rulers been killed in 5 years. Romulus Augustus (Master Thomas Sangster) is been appointed as the new Ceasor. Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley) is a Shaman who was the tutor of Romulus been expelled and he predicted danger. Romulus's father, appoint Aurelius (Colin Firth) for the safety of the little Ceaser. Prophecies do come true and the barbarian general Odoacer (Peter Mullan) and the army of Goths killed Romulus's father and mother and captured the kingdom. All the Legions are broken and the little Ceaser is a captive. Ambrosinus who try to save him too is captive. Aurelius try to save the two from the island where they serve prison. Aiswarya plays the role of a Bizantines warrior for the help of them. Together they move to save the ceaser and Amrosinus. In the island the little ceaser find the sword of the ceaser, which carry a prophecy, "‘One edge to defend, one to defeat..…to fit the hand of he who is destined to rule’. Watch the movie to see the turnings and proceedings of the movie.

The performances by the cast were excellent, including Aishwarya Rai. I think it is not fare from my part not to give little more detail about the character played by her. Aishwarya plays the role of a lady warrior, who turns to be lover of Aurelius. Her name is Mira, she belongs to Kerala (Yes, my place) and she has learned the old martial art "Kalarippayattu" and she can fight 10 men with weapons herself. (Wondering why the writers fail to recognize that kerala has been famous for not only "Kalarippayattu", but "Valpayattu" too, which was done by Mira brilliantly.) Anyway, Aishwarya Rai gives a fine performance, though not exceptional. However, Aishwarya's dress code could have been better taken care of and a little extra smile in the face would have definitely helped. Ben Kingsley played the calm, powerful person of multi talents and wisdom at ease. It is however Colin Firth who leads the proceedings with his well fitted performance. Peter Mullan and Kevin McKidd give the raw look required for their characters. Master Thomas Sangster is a treat to watch. When the duty of a ceaser is assigned to a little boy, it looked odd. However, once the movie rolled on, the boy shows a lot of maturity in his acting and he delivered an equally powerful performance. I could not find much fault with any of the performers at all.

Cinematography is one department where the film excelled other than the performance. Whether it is the scenes in the set, building or in landscape the frames are very clear and the light and shades mix in the required proportions. Only by the last few scenes I felt they could have tried some time more to make it a perfect endurance.

Background music was sufficient. Editing is good. Costumers are fine, but the armory for the Roman soldiers were not sufficient as they are supposed to be supplied with the best preventive wear when fighting, but in the film they were somewhat helpless most of the time as they were ill fitted.

The movie done all well in most of the departments, except in two. One, the soul which carries the film was not sufficient to affix an emotion in the hearts of the audience which compelled them to attach to the characters and situations. I will say the writers succeeded some 60% in this department. I am not sure this is sufficient to keep interest of the Hollywood audience. Two, the fight scenes could be little more brilliant. Of course, for bollywood standard it is superb, but when it comes to Hollywood the expectation are tenfold and standards are higher. Don't ask me why the double standards. Otherwise, the movie is shot in a vast canvas, to the joy of the viewers.

At the end, the little lamp was thrown out with the flame, but to make fire a big old tree to become the burial ground of the evil. Prophecy prevails.

In short, the movie is very good but don't expect a classic like Benher or Cleopatra, but surely brilliant than most of the bollywood movies released in 2007. A good movie worth a watch!

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