While it's clear that writer/director Neil Marshall is still working out some kinks as an action/suspense storyteller, the promising filmmaker responsible for such cult classics as "Dog Soldiers" and "The Descent" has condensed a historic period war epic into a gritty and involving film.
Set in 1st century AD northern Britain, when the Roman Empire commands an area that reaches from Spain to the Black Sea, the story begins with a brutal ambush on occupying Roman troops by a native tribe of "Pict" warriors — complete with great balls of fire.
With their number reduced to a handful of soldiers, and their general captured, Roman warrior Quintus (masterfully played by Michael Fassbender) leads his men further north behind enemy lines in an attempt to free their General and outsmart the Picts that pursue them.
Etain (Olga Kurylenko) is a mute Pict tracker and deadly warrior on a mission to avenge her parents' murder at the hands of Roman soldiers who also cut out her tongue.
The movie boils down to an extended chase sequence that has the intrinsic effect of exposing the strengths and weaknesses of its well drawn characters.
Gory, and tempered with just enough ancient political influence to give it substance, "Centurion" is a more gratifying experience than Ridley Scott's recent Britain-based adventure "Robin Hood."
Rated R. 109 mins.
