The easy comparison here is last year’s far better genre exercise Centurion as both deal with the same occurrence, but The Eagle‘s genre trappings are even more relatable to films such as Resident Evil, Doomsday or any other scenario where a wall is keeping a group of heroes from the goals that would define them. But simplicity is the least of The Eagle‘s concerns as this Channing Tatum starring vehicle pulls the rug out from under its own underlying message, and in the end uses the fate of a little boy to sell the audience on its own hypocrisy.
The Eagle is based on Rosemary Sutcliff’s young adult novel “The Eagle of the Ninth” set in 2nd century AD. The story begins with a focus on Roman dominance with the one caveat being the unexplained and embarrassing disappearance of the entire Roman Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland and the resulting loss of a statue of a golden eagle, a symbol of Rome’s glory.
Fast forward 20 years later. Hadrian’s Wall now separates the lands keeping the barbarous Picts from Scotland out of Roman Britain, but the feud between the two lands also makes travel north of the wall dangerous for small groups of Romans, a fact one man will put to the test in an effort to save Roman face.
Channing Tatum stars as Marcus Aquila, son of the commander of the Ninth deemed responsible for the loss of the Legion. Determined to find out what really happened while at the same time redeeming his family name, Marcus sets out north of the wall accompanied only by his Pict slave Esca (Jamie Bell). The result is no different than a film in which its characters are sent into the wild to find a serum to cure the zombie hoard threatening civilization and as such, even though this is a Focus Features release, it seems no better than the genre exercises Screen Gems has been shilling the past several years.
On Marcus and Esca’s journey roles become reversed in an effort to stay alive and Marcus becomes increasingly aware of the pain and suffering caused by the Romans over the course of their dominance. It is here the film runs into its most notable issues. Just when you begin to think there is some level of civility being born in the characters, or even an inkling of social understanding, it all leads to a finale where everything the characters and audience has learned is all for naught.
Also, it’s quite hard to take either Channing Tatum or Jamie Bell seriously in their respective roles. Tatum is frequently cast as some sort of twenty-something misfit who has to dance or fight his way to social status, which means placing him in a role as a young Roman officer isn’t immediately believable. I was willing to give him a chance, but Tatum just isn’t an actor that seems to be able to mine the inner depths of human emotion. His brutish demeanor would be better utilized as a mute gladiator rather than a Roman officer. His in-and-out accent is also quite curious as it becomes a distraction due entirely to Tatum’s inability to maintain it, whatever it is.
Bell, on the other hand, is easily a better actor than Tatum, but even he seems woefully miscast, both coming across more as actors acting in a 2nd century bro-mance rather than the characters they are portraying. Tahir Rahim (A Prophet) as one of the leaders of the northern tribes, probably gives the best performance, if one is to be singled out. His droll delivery works for the character and aides the story up to the point it all unravels.
Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography is to be commended as probably the film’s one true stand out aspect and you can be sure you’re going to get a lot of it as director Kevin Macdonald is unable to edit The Eagle down to a manageable running time. At nearly two hours there isn’t enough story to sustain such a length and it shows. I can understand his interest in telling more of a story than repeating the fast-paced action of Centurion before it, but Jeremy Brock’s script isn’t working in his favor.
The Eagle isn’t altogether putrid, but it does become taxing and the finale is downright terrible. Macdonald has had a hard time returning to form after the Oscar-winning The Last King of Scotland in 2006 and The Eagle won’t help him out of the hole he’s digging. Miscast and confused is the best way to describe this film that can’t quite figure out where its allegiance lies.
