Ancient Rome, golden eagles, wacky tribes, Channing Tatum, and this movie comes out in February? Eh doesn't look promising but hey, maybe some films shouldn't be judged from the outside...on second thought, yes they should. Needless to say, "The Eagle" was a ride that made me feel like I ate one too many chili cheese dogs before taking off.
Marcus Aquila (Tatum), a roman centurion, is living in his father's shadow...a bad shadow. 20 years prior to the start of the film, Marcus' father was the commander of the Ninth legion that was stationed in northern Britain. His father had in his possession The Eagle that symbolizes Rome's honor and power. Without a clear reason why, the Ninth legion disappears along with the Eagle resulting in both the construction of Hadrian's Wall to seal off northern Britain and shame to Marcus' name. When word that the Eagle has been spotted reaches Marcus, he leaps at the opportunity to bring honor back to his family and travels along with his slave Esca (Jamie Bell) to the mysterious lands beyond Hadrian's Wall where the two will stand alone against the tribe that was responsible for the Ninth's disappearance.
Well, it's not hard to see that "The Eagle" doesn't have the most intriguing, original plot that has graced the silver screen in the past...well...forever. Really, Rome's honor is in jeopardy because they lost a golden Eagle? Unfortunately, the rest of the film just goes from unoriginal to downright ridiculous with too many plot twists that failed to keep me interested.
The film's pacing felt both choppy dragged as well. In the first five minutes of the film, it seems as if almost a week goes by as we are rapidly introduced to the characters and to the story. But then, after the first half hour, the films goes from choppy to a painful drag for the remaining 90 minutes. If this had been reversed, allowing a slower pace for character development and plot at the beginning and having the last, slow half move much quicker, this problem may have been solved.
Now onto Channing Tatum who in my opinion is only good for attracting large amounts of females to his movies...so WHY then was he cast in this film? Out of all the actors you pick the "chick flick" guy who can't even act? Bad choice. If one 0f my past reviews I stated that sometimes good actors look bad due to the script...not in this case, plus the script was very corny as well. Just a quick shout out to the actor opposite Tatum, Jamie Bell...good actor, good choice, still doesn't make up for Tatum or the script.
Conclusion? Like I said before, "The Eagle" is like a wild ride that made me feel like I ate too many chili cheese dogs, we all know what happens. And if nothing else I have said has convinced you enough, listen to this...in all the movies I have ever seen in a movie theater, this is the first that caused me to start falling asleep. 1 star out of 4.
"The Eagle" has a running time of 114 minutes and is rated PG-13 for battle sequences and some disturbing images.
