Cinema Verdict Review: The Eagle

The Eagle

OPENING: 02/11/2011

STUDIO: Focus Features

RUN TIME: 114 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge

Opening Statement
Director Kevin McDonald has been building a solid reputation in recent years, helming the much-lauded historical drama The Last King of Scotland and the unexpectedly melancholic, intelligent thriller State of Play. Now McDonald offers up The Eagle, a red-blooded 2nd Century action/adventure. While the film isn’t as noteworthy as his previous outings, it’s still a modestly enjoyable old-fashioned entertainment.

Facts of the Case
The year is 140 AD, and the place is Roman-occupied Britain. Our protagonist is a Roman commander named Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum, Fighting), whose heroics on the battlefield save his men from destruction at the hands of British rebels. Unfortunately, the battle leaves Marcus wounded, which causes the powers-that-be in Rome to give him both a medal and an honorable discharge. Frustrated by this turn of events, Marcus vows to continue serving Rome in his own way. His goal: to find out what happened to the long-lost Ninth Legion.

You see, in the year 120 AD, the Ninth Legion (led by Marcus’ father) traveled into Northern Britain and then disappeared. Lost with them was a golden standard in the shape of an eagle; one of the most prestigious items in all of Rome. Marcus is eager to know what happened to his father, but his first priority is to find the great eagle and bring it back to Rome. Accompanied only by a British slave named Esca (Jamie Bell, Defiance), Marcus begins the most important mission of his life.

The Evidence
You see, in the year 120 AD, the Ninth Legion (led by Marcus’ father) traveled into Northern Britain and then disappeared. Lost with them was a golden standard in the shape of an eagle; one of the most prestigious items in all of Rome. Marcus is eager to know what happened to his father, but his first priority is to find the great eagle and bring it back to Rome. Accompanied only by a British slave named Esca (Jamie Bell, Defiance), Marcus begins the most important mission of his life.

To appreciate and enjoy The Eagle, one has to approach the film in the spirit it intended. Do you remember those rousing historical fiction books geared at younger readers that were so very popular some decades ago? You know, the ones where young protagonists would go on some grand adventure that just so happened to provide readers with both a thrilling tale of derring-do and a general overview of a particular historical era. The Eagle is the cinematic equivalent of such books, just as it should be: it’s based on one written by Rosemary Sutcliffe.

I’m not suggesting that one should have to turn their thinking cap off to enjoy the film, but that one needs to accept that it is a tale of individual heroism and adventure rather than a larger analysis of this particular period in history. One could certainly question the virtues of the oppressive Roman Empire, and one could regard the deaths in this film as pointless attempts at preserving little more than symbolic vanity. You wouldn’t be incorrect for looking at the film from that perspective, but you would be missing out on the rough and tumble fun The Eagle has to offer. This is the story of two young men attempting to restore their lives and complete a dangerous mission, so let us leave it at that.

Indeed, the relationship between Marcus and Esca is easily the film’s most compelling and rewarding element, as McDonald provides us with a change of pace from the usual buddy-movie relationship template. The fact that Marcus is a Roman Commander and Esca is his slave certainly makes any attempts at friendship rather complicated, and it’s those complications that make the relationship so interesting. Just when the characters start to settle in, the screenplay throws a new wrench into their dynamic to shake things up in an interesting way.

The quest itself is perhaps less consistently engaging, but McDonald does a reasonably good job of setting an appropriately mysterious mood. There are occasional hints of dark fantasy sprinkled in from time to time, along with the usual dose (but not an overdose) of frantically-staged action sequences. A handful of reliable supporting players turn up to add color to the fairly dour proceedings from time to time: Denis O’Hare (True Blood) and Donald Sutherland (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) get a good bit of screen time during the first act, while Mark Strong (Robin Hood) appears for a pair of key scenes later on.

Channing Tatum isn’t exactly the world’s most charismatic actor (I’ve seen livelier chunks of granite), but he’s actually well-cast in the role of Marcus. He certainly looks the part, and Tatum’s slightly dense moodiness plays nicely against the character’s contrasting nobility and vanity. Tatum is at his best when the character is forced to do things that would ordinarily be regarded as beneath him; the actor captures wounded pride persuasively. Still, there’s no question that Jamie Bell owns the film. Bringing a steely-eyed intensity to the table, Bell delivers a performance that recalls the method actor drive of a young Daniel-Day Lewis. Bell is sternly plainspoken enough to convince us that he’s a man of his word, but suspiciously quiet enough to make him an enigmatic figure we doubt from time to time. This guy is a real actor.

Closing Statement
Though The Eagle tells a tale of ancient Rome, its spare structure it runs closer to classic westerns than to the overstuffed Roman epics of yesteryear. Indeed, John Ford’s The Searchers has been cited as a key influence on the filmmakers. While the film lacks the resonance and impeccable craftsmanship of that film, it works quite well as a simple entertainment. In the modern era of needless excess and movies overrun by special effects, an action/adventure that places an emphasis on story and characters is more than welcome. The Eagle is worth a look.

The Verdict
7/10

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