Neil Marshall delivers the goods when it comes to creating solid B-movie schlock. With Dog Soldiers and The Descent he showed great promise in the horror world. With Doomsday and now Centurion, Marshall shows he also has a steady hand when it comes to delivering on the action. Both films couldn’t be more similar. They each focus on a chase, have over-the-top kills, a solid lead, all while happening to be a mess.
The script really is where Centurion falters, just like Doomsday. Narratively, it feels chopped up and rushed. With a 97-minute running time it movesbriskly, but it feels like far too often like Marshall is rushing himself. It’s as if there was once a three-hour epic that got cut into the barest-bone film possible. It doesn’t quite hit the grand scope it seems to be going for. Visually, however, it mostly achieves just that – something grand. In terms of storytelling, it’s a mixed bag.
The best way to describe Centurion is as a period chase film. We follow a pack of Roman soldiers from the 9th Legion, a group that has mysteriously disappeared. This fills in the blank as to what happened. While in Northern Britain they’re attacked by a group of savages raging war. The few that live this attack go on the run, looking for their kidnapped general Virilus (Dominic West). Leading this small squad of survivors is Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender). Fassbender himself – who’s recently been turning out brilliant performance after brilliant performance – has the film pretty much rest on his shoulders. Unsurprisingly, he’s as solid as you’d expect him to be.
Probably the biggest surprise of Centurion is Olga Kurylenko. If you don’t know Kurylenko by name, she’s recently become known more for her American supporting performances, which aren’t exactly show stoppers (Max Payne, Quantum of Solace, and Hitman). But here, Kurylenko impresses. She has the trickiest role: playing a mute with a lot of internal damage. Kurylenko delivers an expressive performance, as she has to, and also makes for one of the more memorable action female characters in recent years.
When you have your Roman soldiers spouting obscenities left and right, it’s fairly obvious that Marshall isn’t striving too far from the B-movie world. What’s most interesting about Marshall’s take on the Roman soldier is how he does, somehow, make it all feel natural. He doesn’t throw you into Ancient Rome to see the mammoth buildings and the fantastical side – he’s going for a raw and realistic take. Marshall wants a “man vs. nature” type of vibe, and that works. You sometimes wish he’d focus more on that theme than the chase itself, but the idea comes across.
This feels like the polar opposite of the recent (and brilliant) Valhalla Rising. That’s a man vs. nature film as well, but done in a more existential and poetic way. This is the punk-rock version of that idea. While the result isn’t nearly as satisfying or intriguing, Marshall still turned out an entertaining and solid chase thriller. If you’re expecting plenty of messy, bloody fun like Marshall’s previous film Doomsday, you wont be disappointed.
Centurion is now available on VOD and will have a limited US release on Aug. 27th.