The Eagle

Sticking with my Roman kick, I turn to the 2011 film by Kevin McDonald, The Eagle. This certainly has all the trappings of a movie I could dig--it's set in Ancient Britain, which I find even more fascinating than Ancient Rome.

It concerns the legendary "lost" 9th legion. Scholars are unsure of what happened to them--some think they may have been wiped out in Judea--but the myth has it that they were massacred by ancient Scots in the second century AD. The son of the commander of that legion (Channing Tatum, playing the gamut of emotions from A to B, to steal from Dorothy Parker) seeks to rescue his father's honor. You see, not only was the legion lost, but so was their standard, a golden eagle atop a pole, which symbolically was bad mojo for the Romans.

Tatum takes a slave, Jamie Bell, whom he saved from death in the gladiatorial arena. Bell, quite rightly, hates the Romans--they conquered his land, after all--but because Tatum saved his life it would be dishonorable not to help him in his quest. This makes for a tense and largely uninteresting chemistry between the two.

The pair go through the Hadrian wall, which was built to keep the barbarian Scots out (at this time they were called Picts, though the film calls them the "painted Seal people.") Tatum finds a man who was part of the legion who has assimilated as a Briton, and he points them to the scary blue people, who don't look that much different than Native Americans in their tribal structure and customs.

At this point, in order to stay alive, Tatum must pose as Bell's slave, giving him a taste of his own medicine. This is kind of interesting, but isn't followed up on enough. Finally they find the eagle (was there any other possible outcome?) and head back to the safety of Roman Britain.

McDonald and his screenwriter, Jeremy Brock, have missed an opportunity here. For one thing, having the Roman as hero is problematic. As I watched, I completely sympathized with the Seal people. After all, the Romans were invaders, and why shouldn't they take the Eagle as victor's spoils? Having Bell fight against his own kind out of an obligation to Tatum is noble, but kind of sleazy at the same time. All told, a lot of people end up dying for a hunk of gold that in the long run means nothing.

The ending has Tatum getting command of a new 9th legion and heading off with Bell like nothing much has happened. Meanwhile, the Picts are wondering, "What the hell is it with these Romans? I can't wait for their stupid empire to fall." Patience, patience.