The Eagle Review

The Eagle Review By Jose Plot:

In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila (Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca (Bell), Marcus sets out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia - to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father's memory, and retrieve the lost legion's golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth.

Review:
I tend to like movies that deal with medieval and ancient times. So I was already set to like The Eagle. And thankfully I was not disappointed. The movie opens with a rather ominous tone. With Marcus Aquila (Tantum) coming into a settlement in Rome occupied Britain, in order to take command there. Soon the base in attacked and we find Marcus sent to live with an uncle to recuperate after a serious injury. Soon happy and bad news come to him. The base and men he commanded gained a rank in the Roman army due to him, but he is honorably discharged due to injuries he sustained defending his men.
Soon meeting Esca at a gladiator fight and saving his life. Esca, played rather well by Jamie Bell, soon becomes the slave to Marcus. Later on they both head out to find the Eagle of the Ninth Legion.

The relationship between Marcus and Esca is where this movie shines. You see them build a love hate relationship, even though somewhat forced due to their individual standings. The friction between them throughout the movie really shines and carries the middle part of the film along. We get to know them as people instead of just characters going through the motions and eventually care for them and want then to succeed. The story of the film is brought out and told to us through this part of the movie and we learn what happened to the ninth Legion and the small glimer of hope that maybe some of them survived.

I really loved the switch in the slave/owner roles later in the film with the smaller Esca being the owner of Marcus. The little guy dominating or the bigger guy. Action in the movie takes place in the beginning and the end where we have the Seal tribe chasing after a wounded Marcus and Esca who found the eagle. And then a bit later with the surviving solider coming to help them defeat the Seal tribe hunters.

Final Thoughts:

The ending of the film leaves you smiling and happy that Esca and Marcus, together and as equals, found the eagle and brought it back to Roman hands even though they disregarded them and thought they were going on a suicide mission. He character building and care the film gave to show us that relationship while giving us the story was really great and something that filmmakers don’t do often. Great movie and great acting from Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell.
Ratings: 3.75 out of 5