Following Centurion (2010), here is another movie on the Ninth Legion which disappeared in Britain around 117 CE. In this movie, years have passed since the incident and Marcus Flavius Aquila arrives to take over a garrison in Britain. He has a secret: his father was the in charge of Rome’s Eagle standard in the legion which disappeared and if you have seen the pilot episode of HBO’s Rome, you know that the Eagle is a big thing.
Thus the son wants to restore the family honor by finding the truth behind the disappearance of the legion and their standard and that indeed is a noble cause. Unfortunately the movie took the artsy route — I finished couple of chapters of An Evil Eye in between scenes. As the hero wanders aimlessly outside Hadrian’s Wall, so does the script. It is a messy historical which failed to capture my attention after the first battle. Soon it becomes a buddy picture, but you are not rooting for either one.
Now that the Ninth Legion theme has been beaten to death, I hope they make movie of Rome or Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra.
Briefly Noted: The Eagle (2011)
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