'The Eagle' is well-made but predictable

Film: The Eagle (U/A)
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland
Rating: ***

Set in an age where Imperial Rome had dominion over all, The Eagle tells us of centurion Marcus Flavius Aquila, a man who must salvage his father’s legacy and honour by retrieving the golden eagle, the iconic battle standard of Rome that was lost, along with 5000 men, to savages when his legion was overrun by Picts while penetrating the hitherto unexplored realms of Ancient Britain.

After being honourably discharged as garrison commander for having being injured in a skirmish where he played a decisive role in securing victory for his side, Aquila,  who must relinquish his charge over the army stationed on the desolate frontiers, acts upon rumours that the lost eagle standard might be north of Hadrian’s wall that divides vanquished Britannia from unknown terrain (modern Scotland) by venturing there with Escha (Bell), a Briton whose life he was instrumental in saving after an unfortunate outcome of a gladiatorial bout.

One positive thing about The Eagle is that we don’t see the tiresome two-CGI-armies-facing-each-other-off- to a hair raising score routine. Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography of the Gaelic highlands is impressive.

Also, there is no forced love angle which may alienate certain audiences and create homosexual subtext.  It is curious to see how the British, in thralldom and primitiveness, are still made out to be the villains while the questionable paradoxes of the civilisation championed by the Romans aren't adequately delved upon in favour of the director choosing to explore the values of that era where honour and bravery are above all other things.

Tatum’s acting isn’t as solid as the coliseum though Bell is something else all together as Aquila’s companion who, a captive in his own land, has no real obligation to submit to the will of his dominator.

Overall, the film, being quite predictable though well-made, is a one-time-watch.