Review - The Eagle

It Just Doesn’t Soar

Legends of lost battles, lost iconic trophies, and lost individuals permeate every last war story handed down for generations. Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) has worked his way up through the ranks of the Roman army and has been asked to be assigned to Britain. It is there the legendary Ninth went missing years before, and its commander (Marcus’ Father) was lost with all his men and the iconic gold eagle that stood as a symbol for their unit.

Now, with Marcus in charge he is out to avenge his father’s disappearance and clear his family name. But that might be slightly harder than he originally thought. When a sneak attack injures Marcus, he is sent to rehab with his Uncle (Donald Sutherland). But Marcus is not one to sit on his heels. He sets out with a slave named Esca (Jamie Bell) by his side to follow a rumor and hopefully recover the lost artifact and his families’ lost name.

The Eagle has a lot going for it there is some great action moments that spot the film. But overall I found myself not caring too much. For every moment of interesting development it takes a step back with developments that feel out of place.

There is even a war dance sequence towards the end of the film that seemed to develop out of nowhere and made me scratch my head and wonder why it occurred in the first place.

The Eagle suffers from the one thing you don’t want a movie to be, it is not memorable. When it was over I really didn’t care one way or another. It wasn’t great, it didn’t stink, it was just there. The Eagle tries to soar, but instead it just crawls along.

C

The Eagle
Focus Features

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland

Rating: PG-13 for battle sequences and some disturbing images.
Runtime: 114 minutes.