AD 117. The Roman Empire stretches from Egypt to Spain, and East as far as the Black Sea. But in northern Britain, the relentless onslaught of conquest has ground to a halt in face of the guerrilla tactics of an elusive enemy: the savage and terrifying Picts. Quintus Dias (Fassbender), sole survivor of a Pictish raid on a Roman frontier fort, marches north with General Virilus’ (West) legendary Ninth Legion, under orders to wipe the Picts from the face of the earth and destroy their leader Gorlacon. But when the legion is ambushed on unfamiliar ground, and Virilus taken captive, Quintus faces a desperate struggle to keep his small platoon alive behind enemy lines. Enduring the harsh terrain and evading their remorseless Pict pursuers led by revenge-hungry Pict Warrior Etain (Kurylenko), the band of soldiers race to rescue their General and to reach the safety of the Roman frontier. –IMDb
Neil Marshall (born 25 May 1970) is an English film director and screenwriter. Marshall began his career in editing and in 2002 directed his first feature film Dog Soldiers, which became a cult film. He followed up with the critically acclaimed horror film The Descent in 2005. Marshall also directed Doomsday in 2008, and wrote and directed Centurion in 2010.
Marshall was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He was first inspired to become a film director when he saw Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) at the age of eleven. He began making home movies using Super 8 mm film, and in 1989, he attended film school at Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University). In the next eight years, he worked as a freelance editor. In 1995, he was hired to co-write and edit for director Bharat Nalluri’s first film, Killing Time. Marshall continued to write and develop his own projects, directing his first film in 2002, Dog Soldiers, a horror film that became a cult film in the United Kingdom… read more
Admittedly, this film features a ridiculous display of bloodshed as well as a rather unspectecular story arc. I still had a good time watching it, tough. Lovely visuals, that special atmosphere that comes with period films, Fassbender in the lead and a shamefully underused Feild as support turn this one into solid entertainment. I also enjoyed the underlying commentary on the futility of war.
Not a single shot, thought, tone, technique, filter, or scene of this would exist without Gladiator. A good DP and decent editor do not make up for terrible writing, mediocre directing and complete and utter lack of any semblance of originality, interest, passion or story. The score is an utterly laughable juvenile mockery of Zimmer's work a decade prior. For quality in this genre look to Scott, Refn, or Herzog.
Comedy of errors, played dead serious, about a humourless career soldier type (Fassbender) who makes a promise to a dying man who did him a good turn, and then proceeds to screw it up. Fassbender's a good actor, but he doesn't get to show off his performing skills in this one so much as he shows off his running skills. (He is good at running, mind you).
Let's begin this weekly roundup of critical voices on theatrical releases with The Milk of Sorrow, winner of the Berlinale's Golden Bear in
Neil Marshall's men are numerous and largely interchangeable—grizzled genre types vaguely sketched, owing a lot to Hawks-by-way-of-Carpenter
"The tail-end of summer is an exciting period for Toronto's cult-cinema crowd," writes Neil Karassik in Eye Weekly. "With TIFF
Neil Marshall’s ambitious movie is heavily flawed and unpolished. The ambition of the project is its greatest downfall, instead of catering the movie towards the budget (as in Dog Soldiers), Marshall… read review
Writer/director Neil Marshall has style and hopefully will continue to bring it forth on cinema screens for years to come, if he decides to travel back to America or not. Many lesser auteurs would… read review
Well, I liked it. Maybe it’s because it’s what I was expecting, an historical tale filled with bloody action – but not too much, and I’m ok with it – capable to keep you nailed to the sofa, or chair… read review
The film began during an afternoon of which I had very little to do, I found it interesting to see people arrive at the cinema screen 10 as early as possible, but it was not full, I’ll say that much… read review