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Rome Again, Rome Again

Fans of last summer's "Centurion" will be pleased to see that "The Eagle" continues the story of the Roman occupation of Britain just twenty years later. Following the mysterious disappearance of its Ninth Legion in or around 120 CE, presumably due to enemy action, Rome has effectively given up the idea of pacifying the entire island, electing instead to build a wall isolating the south into a putatively manageable province and leaving the north to its own devices. There remains, however, a great deal of resistance to the Roman presence and the area continues to require constant military intervention.

Into this situation marches Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum, "Dear John"), a centurion undertaking his first command at a remote outpost. Aquila's presence in not entirely welcomed by his men, as he is the son of the man who led the Ninth Legion at the time of its disappearance, but his reputation quickly goes from 'bad omen' to 'hero' when he proves his mettle in battle and saves his unit from near-certain destruction. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Aquila has set his sights far higher than a minor command. He is out to recover the lost standard of his father's legion, it's golden eagle, and recover his family's honor.

Based on the first book in a series by Rosemary Sutcliff, the screenplay by Jeremy Brock ("The Last King of Scotland") is generally smart, if a bit spare. While its understandably important for a movie of this nature to stress the Roman concepts of honor, strength, and virtue, it's a shame that Mr. Brock does this by dehumanizing his characters. Granted, given Mr. Tatum's clenched-jaw approach to acting, it's a bit tricky to know exactly where to point the finger on this one. Only Aquila's uncle (also named Aquila) manages to convey a sense that Romans were more than relentless automatons, but that is more of a credit to the presence of Donald Sutherland, who brings a smirking twinkle in the eye to all of his roles these days. That issue aside, the script does a decent job of establishing what is at stake and thankfully avoids the obvious temptation to force parallels with modern American foreign policy.

Particularly impressive, though, is the work of director Kevin McDonald ("State of Play"). It is refreshing to see a director create an epic feel without relying on unrelenting CGI and bazillion dollar effects. Working with a comparatively modest budget (reportedly $25 million) McDonald reminds us that a battle scene doesn't need to involve huge armies to be immersive and that clever use of sets can be just as evocative of a period as huge sweeping back-drops. While the pacing lags a bit in the middle, and some of the set-ups are a bit derivative, on the whole the sense of tension at the beginning and the end keep the viewer near the edge of the seat, if not quite on it.

While "The Eagle" is far from perfect, it is good enough to make one hope that the next story in Ms. Sutcliff's series hits the screen, if for no other reason than to see what the production team could do with $50 million.