Review

Review Date: 13-February-11
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Just OK

The Eagle (2011)

The bird at the center of The Eagle is an imperial standard made of bright gold, but the movie itself is a dark and somber affair. It follows the quest of a Roman soldier, Marcus Flavius Aquila (Channing Tatum), to discover the fate of his father and restore his family's honor. Marcus' father led the infamous Ninth Legion when it disappeared in what is now Scotland and was, to second century A.D. Rome, an unexplored barbarian wasteland. Marcus arrives in Britain as commander of a small garrison, but when a battle wound ends his military career he decides to pursue his father's ghost as a civilian. This means traversing shadowy woods and stormy glens where nature looks as brooding as his thoughts.

As is inevitable when addressing the expansion of the Roman Empire, The Eagle contrasts the bureaucratic conquerers with their clannish, less organized victims. But the whole picture strikes me as tribal, since each character's precious honor is bound up in his definition of self as part of a unit. Marcus' obsession with erasing the smirch on his family name derives from his attachment to imperial military culture. Similarly, the hostility of the northern tribes who defeated his father and now threaten him too derives from their warrior culture which, understandably, they want to protect. While the flareups of martial dignity grow tiresome as Marcus' journey unspools, The Eagle wisely promotes another theme.

During Marcus' recovery from his wound, he saves the life of a Briton (Jamie Bell) who shows great courage during a gladiatorial contest. Marcus ends up with this native, Esca, as his slave, and they head north together. Although Esca swears allegiance to Marcus in payment for his life (his honor is personal in nature), they share an uneasy bond. At times it looks like friendship, but when they get into the Highlands where only Esca speaks the language, it becomes unclear exactly who is leading whom, and to what end. Marcus assumes the worst after they are taken in by the Seal People, fierce hunters who welcome Esca as a brother and treat Marcus as the slave. The question of whether friendship can exist between sons of antagonistic worlds propels the story until its finale.

This question forms sufficient basis for a movie, and Tatum and Bell generate a nice fraternal chemistry. But The Eagle succumbs to ponderousness, trotting out the remnants of the Ninth Legion for a final shot at glory. Honor is a fine thing, particularly when it's personal like Esca's, but by the end of The Eagle I wished the fighters would give their pride a rest and go do something productive, preferably where they might catch a ray of sun.

Copyright © 2011 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.