Die letzte Legion (2007)

Die letzte Legion: Directed by Doug Lefler. With Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Peter Mullan. As the Roman empire crumbles, young Romulus Augustus flees the city and embarks on a perilous voyage to Britain to track down a legion of supporters.

“Reading the back cover of the DVD and seeing that Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley are given top billing, I expected an intelligent King Arthur story. Well, it really wasnu0026#39;t either, although I did find it entertaining. I must not have read the description carefully enough. No matter; overall, it was fun but just a little too silly. Iu0026#39;m beginning to wonder about the discernment of some of these actors, how they can play such intelligent roles for a film or two and then revert to something like this.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnyway, the story is really a Roman empire one, not a King Arthur story. We only see the tie-in to the later in the last few minutes of the film, in the epilogue. This action story is all about the last Caesar, a small boy, and the last legion that fought as Rome had now been taken over by the Goths. The Roman Empire had come to an end.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMixed in with that tale was the famous u0026quot;excaliburu0026quot; sword. We see the origins of that and how it eventually got into the hands of King Arthur. But, once again, that is only explained in the final minutes. However, the sword is used by the good Roman general who protects the last Caesar from the Goths, who want him imprisoned for life, or killed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat made the story interesting, at least for me, was the chase-scene type atmosphere of a small band of heroes protecting a little boy, fleeing the bloodthirsty Goths until they could mount some sort of counter-attack in the north in Brittania. That, and the pretty computer-generated scenery and action stunts, kept it interesting. However, donu0026#39;t look for credibility in those action scenes and expect the typical political-correctness of today (i.e. where a woman beats up hundreds of men and the good guys of all colors prevail despite ridiculous odds).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSome parts of this will leave you shaking your head in disbelief. You will feel youu0026#39;re watching a kidsu0026#39; film at times. However, if you want an hour-and-a-half of decent escapist fare, and can put your brain on hold for that time, it fits the bill and will at least entertain you.”