Movie: The Eagle

Year: 2011

Country of Origin: USA

Languages: English (Mainly), Gaelic Scottish (Few places)

Genre: Action, Drama, Adventure, History

The Eagle Movie Review:

After watching this movie, I have only one thing in mind, what if this could have been a little better? I am sure it would have become one of the top movies based on ROMAN EMPIRE. The Ninth Legion of the Roman Army has attracted considerable amount of interest from scholars as well as history lovers all across the planet. This movie too based on a Novel, talks about the lost EAGLE of the Ninth Legion in 2nd century A.D. Kevin Macdonald has really given us a treat to watch. For me and I am sure for those too who will watch this movie and who have watched already there is one “outstanding feature” of the movie to like. The music and background score of The Eagle is really “exceptional”.

Mr. Atli Örvarsson has given some great background scores in his career, but this one is really one of the best, if not the best he has ever composed. The music really feels like an integrated part of this movie and gives you an awesome feel about the movie. Now coming to the story line of this film, it tells the story of a man named Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) whose only aim in life is to bring back his family honor. Marcus’s father was leading the Ninth Legion which disappeared few years back along with the priced golden Eagle of the Roman Empire. The Eagle holds a very strong significance to the Empire and finding it back is something that will make the finder immortal in the history of Roman Empire. Marcus asks to be posted in Britannia and his wish is being granted, but soon after reaching Britain he is “severely” wounded in a raid by local people.

Marcus is then shifted to a distant place to his uncle played by Donald Sutherland. After few days he receives the news from Rome that due to his injury he is being discharged from this duty, upon hearing this news Marcus is shattered and here his journey for the Lost Eagle starts. He saves the life of a British slave named Esca (Jamie Bell) who later on becomes his partner in the quest for the Lost Eagle. The movie starts with a lot of promise and in the first 20 minutes you get the feel that it’s really going on to be an absolute masterpiece to watch, but as the movie progresses it losses its charm. It becomes a man’s quest to bring his family honor back. In the quest he is accompanied by a slave named Esca. The ever-changing relationship between these two characters is really worthy of watching. The movie also has some wonderful fighting scenes that are choreographed very well. In the end, I would say this is a good movie to watch, but after watching it you be left with a feeling of anxiety that it could be made better.

My Favorite Characters of The Movie:

Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum): He has looked good all through the movie, at times you feels that he is trying to give more than he is capable of. But, overall he has done justice to this character and his body language as well as dialogue delivery is appreciable. I have not seen many movies of Channing so can’t compare him with any of his other roles.

Esca (Jamie Bell): Jamie as Esca is the surprise package of The Eagle. He enters the movie in the 28-29th minute, but soon becomes an important part of it. Jamie has really performed the part of a slave as well as master (when he crosses Hadrian’s Wall) perfectly. I am really liked his acting and body language. His expressions are really good.

My Rating of The Movie:

I rated this film 8 out of 10. The main reason for this is that I really liked the music of this movie, at few places it is really breath-taking. The Eagle also has some nice fighting as well as emotional scenes. In addition to the lead characters, others too have given a fine performance in the movie. Specially, Mark Strong, Donald Sutherland and Tahar Rahim. Overall, this movie deserves this rating.

My Verdict of The Eagle:

Keeping this movie’s “Historical Integrity” aside, I liked the movie very much and enjoyed every minute of it. I normally like movies based on History so I can be a little biased when reviewing movies like this. Having said this, I would recommend this movie to anyone who is fond of adventure, history and drama based movies. Once you will start watching The Eagle you will surely watch it till the end. Just one advice don’t think after watching that all that is being shown is actually happened in History. Because History over a period of time keeps on changing from what it “really” was when it actually happened.

Image Credit: IMDB