Centurion & The Slow Rise of Michael Fassbender

"Centurion" delivers the sword and sandals action that I hoped it would, however it should be noted that the sword and sandal balance is way tipped in the swords favor. The film comes director Neil Marshall, who's trapped in a cave film "The Descent" is one of my favorite films ever, so I had high hopes.. And you know bloody what? The film mostly delivered the hardcore action goods.

Taking place in Northern Britain, the story focuses on the legendary 9th Legion of the Roman army, which is said to have disappeared mysteriously in the region. Basically, as soon as the Legion enters the region the native Picts kill everyone but a few ultra-badass Romans. That few try to make back to the safety of Roman lines, but they are tracked by an ruthless Pictish scout/badass/bond girl. Of course, the Pics are the natives and the Roman's are the invaders, but who cares about which side technically the good guys, when the swords come out. So to summarize, the whole movie is like the opening act of "Gladiator."

The weight of the movie rests on Michael Fassbender's shoulders. He plays the Centurion of the title and he basically ices man people, yells badass dialogue, and frequently stops on mountain tops to look to the north/east/west/south with a serious look. Fassbender, familar to audiences from "Inglorious Basterds" has the acting chops and the physicality here to be very convincing, by the end when he's shooting arrows through people's faces, I thought, hey, I might call Stallone and tell him I found a new action star. And a star he is, his next big role is Magneto, in the upcoming "X-Men: First Class."

If there is one fault to the movie, it's simply that it doesn't have a huge budget. The film is short and the battles while awesome, reek of underlying sense of frugality. With more money, the film could have been more epic, with a longer story, with better defined characters, and a stronger more epic score. However, this is a foreign film on a small budget, so these things are lacking. Low budget or not, it still brings it in the action department, at one point a guy pulls an arrow out of his own head, and then stabs someone in the eye with it, not something for my mother, but something that I certainly enjoyed.

Centurion Red Band Trailer

This movie, which I have been hyping for a long time is shaping up to be the following things

1. What Robin Hood could have been
2. A movie similar off the under-appreciated first 45 minutes of Gladiator
3. A return to form for Director Neil Marshall
4. A sneak peek at future movie star Michael Fassbender's acting and ass kicking abilities
5. A first taste of the popular lost legion story which will dominate theaters soon.

Trailer Mania: Action Fest 2010

The Expendables

If Valentines Day is the great ensemble romantic comedy of the year than "The Expendables" is the great ensemble action movie of the year. Jeez, I hope that action movie gods can forgive me for that statement, but if the trailer is any indication this movie looks beyond ridiculous. There doesn't seem to be a single piece of the movie that isn't over the top, from the cheesy music in the middle of the trailer, to the obligatory asian joke, and finally to the totally awesome narration of the whole thing. For me, as long as it stays rated R, this is the top action movie of the summer. I mean with a cast like this how can it not be the meatiest thing since sloppy joes with hot dogs and bacon.

The A-Team

Ahh, this one is a tough one, it's easy to see from the trailer that there a lot of wildly cool shit going on here. Briefly: we have tanks engaged in mid-air battles, high rise stunts, daring vehicle escapes, and Wikus Van De Merwe, but not fooocking prawns man! They need to have less jokes and more ass kicking if they really want to pack the house. Neeson needs to stop smiling and start getting back in Taken mode. "I told you I find you!" Whaaaaaat?

Salt

Angelina returns to the action genre and it looks like instead of curving bullets she is now just changing her hair color. Glad to see she is still adept at driving vehicles and jumping around like a female frog though. Could a return to the "Tomb Raider" franchise be next? As for the film, I think it could be a highly enjoyable political thriller like director Phillip Noyce's 90's classics "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger" or it could be another Angelina snooze fest like "Beyond Borders." I'll give it this, the concept of the whole mistaken identity thing is interesting, let's hope the rest of the film can ride it to action party town.

Predators

As long as this is R-Rated, this movie will probably be kick a lot of ass. Unlike the previous Predator outing AVP Requiem, which had a title similar to an opera for automobiles, this one has a solid cast. I totally buy Brody as a elite special forces Pianist (I mean maniac) and the whole concept is so simple, it will be hard for this movie to suck. Here's the formula: badass people get put on a badass planet hunted by badass intergalatic badasses with should mounted lasers. Done.

Centurion

While not as hyped as the other movies above, this one deserves to be mentioned because director Neil Marshall has been silently making a name for himself as interesting director. Sure "Doomsday" was a mess, but it was a guilty pleasure of a mess. "The Descent" is a classic and "Dog Soldiers" is enjoyable as it's well. The movie looks like an extended version of the first third of Gladiator, which is a brutal part of the film that people often forget.

Centurion Trailers Hits (And Hits Again)

More Centurion Videos

Neil Marshall, acclaimed director of "The Descent" and "Dog Soldiers", and hated director of "Doomsday" returns. I already had my ticket before this trailer came out.