CENTURION Post Release Discussion - Page 2

Good to know. At least it sounds like he had a reasoning for it then rather than it being crap dialog. I still thought it was a bit out of place though.

Really, if you're willing to buy the idea of Roman soldiers speaking English in British accents, then I have no idea why the modernity of the dialogue would bother you. It's a great way to both acknowledge and play to the artifice of the situation, and I wish more films would do the same.

This is the film I had hoped Valhalla Rising would be. Thank you, Neil Marshall. I'm hard pressed to say it's his best film but it certainly delivers the goods, albeit with a very B-movie sensibility. I do agree with the other reviewers that it's first half is it's strongest, with the later half digressing into more formulaic territory. If Marshall keeps up his good track record, I think we may have this generation's John Carpenter.

While I'm glad we have someone like Marshall who takes the making of this kind of film seriously, I can't say Centurion did much for me. Looks great and all, but nothing relating to the characters and storyline ever seemed to rise above the level of the barely functional; they're just there as connecting thread for a few fight scenes and a lot of chases. And while the action is fast, the pacing of the movie otherwise is pretty plodding: you know where every scene is headed, and you get there well ahead of the characters. With a film like this (or most films, actually), there should be at least a few minutes where you wonder what's coming next, rather than always waiting for the story to catch up with you.

And what's with the lifts from other movies? As noted, we get a bunch of re-enactments of scenes from Butch Cassidy (I swear I expected someone to ask "Who are those guys?"), with the bonus of a bunch of LOTR-inspired aerial shots of a half-dozen guys running across snow and rolling hills. As was the case in Doomsday (where it was Escape From New York and Road Warrior), I can't see that he's using the references in any particular canny way; it just seems like he's telling me he likes a lot of the same movies that I do.

I suppose you could argue that, in these times, just making a movie about indigenous guerillas fighting a military superpower constitutes a political act, but it never goes any deeper than that: it's never suggested that the Romans are getting their comeuppance for their hubris or that their rule is repressive; they've just run up against a form of warfare they're not prepared for.

Not terrible, or stupid (neither of which can be taken for granted these days), but just too by-the-numbers for any real satisfaction.

Guess I enjoyed it more than most here. Sure, it's formulaic (with the possible exception of the cover-up at the end), but it just felt like how this sort of B-Movie is supposed to be done. Liam Cunningham's final fight alone made me love it madly, and I enjoyed that Fassbender was never the unstoppable badass leader, but rather an average joe desperately clinging to survival.

Didn't fall in love with this movie but it's really, really good. Marshall is kind of a young filmmaker and it seems fitting that he lifts from the movies he grew up with (much as Tarantino does, if more brilliantly). We have to remember that the target audience for Centurion are people in an age category where knowledge of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or The Last of the Mohicans is going to be low. I know Mohicans was only 20 years ago but we're dealing with like 5-10 year spans of cultural awareness.

Centurion will feel lived in to a lot of people but I think Marshall deserves a little better than "you stole that!" from guys who would probably do very similar things if they were in the movie biz. I mean, we can't all be Tarantino.

I'm not accusing anyone, or concerned with whether or not he's "stealing," it's just that he doesn't seem to do anything interesting with what he appropriates, which is what separates him from, say, Tarantino. He just recycles, which is good for the planet, I guess, but doesn't really work for me as an audience member.

If anyone in the LA area wants to catch this in a theater it looks like it playing at the Nuart for a week. Going to try and catch it if I can.

Well it's not playing anywhere near me. I'm glad I rented it before it was "released" in theaters. I thought it was good enough to get a decent theatrical release, but I guess there's only room for the awful-looking TAKERS and that Exorcism thing this weekend.

Caught this on HDNet Movies Wednesday night, and I and the roomie both thought it was a bloody fun diversion.

Had a good time with this. Fassbender should be more famous than he is.

Anyway, I liked all his films so far, but Dog Soldiers is probably my favorite. It hasn't gotten alot of love in this thread which is a bit sad. I guess people can't get by the cheesy werewolves.

This is true. For all his skill, I'm afraid that Marshall is making movies for an ever dwindling demographic. One that I'm part of but it's not numerous enough to give him the audience his abilities deserve.

I just watched this. Very solid for a mid-budget film, hell it was solid for a film in general. I appreciate the fact that the filmmakers understood Ancient Rome was an international empire with Africans, Indians, and Greeks in the cast (even saw a Chinese guy in the background). I know historical accuracy in films is a fools errand, but it really does help sometimes.

Oh and cast Imogen Poots in more films please.

Cannot agree more. She is mesmerizing.

I'm also really surprised by the fact that no one seems to pick up on the fact that while the movie admirably includes minorities playing Roman conscripts or whatever, these are all the people who die first. It's like the old stereotype of horror and scifi movies where it's always "the black guy" who dies first. In Centurion we have an Arabic looking fellow, a Greek who is pretty Persian-looking, and then finally "the black guy".

Hurm.

This surprisingly showed up 7 days ago in the local cinemas, with but only 5 cinemas showing it in the entire of Auckland.

A fantastic film, Marshall is 4 for 4 in my book, and hah at the dick joke name of General Virilus.

Not much to add, I'm just glad I got to see it in a cinema with mates, instead of waiting another year till the dvd decides to show up here.

I wish I could have caught this on the big-screen, but the home experience is still pretty awesome. My only complaint is that it needed more McNulty, but Fassbender is so terrific you hardly miss him. I'm curious to see what Marshall could do with a bigger budget. If Fox were serious about making Wolverine a proper franchise (and not, you know, idiots) they'd be wise to set it in Japan and let Marshall gore it up proper.

I agree, this would have been so much more kick-ass on a big screen, but the fact that I got to see it at all tickles me. The home experience is really proving its worth for me.

I finally caught up with this sucker last week and enjoyed it. It's silly as all hell - goofy even - but enjoyable for it.

Yes, though I enjoyed THE EAGLE, I think the pulpier tone worked the film's favor. It's my favorite of the two, and the only one I have any desire to revisit

Just caught this and really enjoyed it. 

 

The gore was suitably visceral, if there was a bit too much cgi splatter. The actors were all solid, Fassbender is the standout, although the status quo kept getting switched up. Everywhere Fassbender went he would form a new band of brothers, only for them to get killed within twenty minutes. The capturing at the beginning felt unnecessary, as any knowledge Fassbender has he gleaned from his experience on the frontier, not from having physically been to the Pict camp. With that in mind, the movie should have continued from the opening rather than jumping back two weeks, as that made the narrative feel disjointed (the same thing Let Me In was criticized for, starting later in the narrative and then jumping back for no apparent reason). 

 

If the movie had been made in 1985 there would have been a love scene around the time Fassbender touches the witche's face. Although I appreciate the fast pace, the scene at the cabin would've been a nice time to slow down a bit more and flesh everyone out. As is, a solid B+, but I'll take the insanity of Doomsday over this. 

This is what I wanted the new Conan movie to be like.