"The Eagle is an exciting and emotional film, helped by a beautiful and haunting celtic soundtrack..."

As far as sword swinging, sandal wearing, bloodthirsty, Roman revenge films go, The Gladiator will probably never be beaten. But The Eagle is an impressive and realistic attempt that production and set wise, pushes the boundaries beyond the normal film shoot.

Filmed in the highlands of Scotland (one of very few Scottish set films that have actually been filmed there) and directed by Kevin MacDonald, The Eagle is the story of of the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion, in the mountains of Scotland. Young centurion Marcus Aquila (played by Channing Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his Father, the commander of the Ninth. After saving the life of an English slave Esca (Jamie Bell) from the Gladiator pit, compassionate and nobel Marcus Aquila takes Esca with him on a defiant mission to find out the truth about the fate of his Father's legion, where the two unlikely friends battle savage tribes and an unforgiving Scottish landscape in a fearless and relentless quest for the truth. 

The Eagle, although breathtaking in it's scenery and the efforts of the film company to produce such a realistic and accurate film, was slightly let down in it's mixture of stars and actors, whose mish mash of accents, mainly American,which gave the film, a slightly amateur quality. It was almost like the researchers said, 'well we don't know what kind of an accent a real Roman would have had, so to hell with it, we'll just let everyone speak however the hell they want.' It felt slightly lazy, and quite Hollywood, especially Channing Tatum, whose confused half English, half American accent didn't help the fact that he already looked like a Roman action man, and just wasn't really convincing as an ancient Roman. However having said that Tatum's overall performance as an unusually kind Roman centurion was played with heartfelt emotion, and was easy to watch.

In fact nearly all the Roman's were played by American actors, Donald Sutherland played Marcus Aquila's uncle who nurses him back to health after a nasty accident (add more actors).

Jamie Bell is one of the few English actors, and is absolutely superb as Esca. His ferrel body language and self protective glare is reminiscent of his role in King Kong, but with added masculinity and a brave heart. (no pun intended). His and Channings genuine friendship is obvious to see in their characters brotherly bond as the two struggle to keep each other alive as they brave rain, mountains and murderous tribes.

Which brings me to the other rather interesting and enjoyable facet of Romanesque history that Kevin MacDonald brings to The Eagle, which is the appearance of the local British tribes. The inhospitable Scottish scenery, beyond the safety of Hadrians Wall, is littered with sparse huts, barely suitable for animals, but home to ancient tribes people who converse in an ancient language with Jamie Bell, who pulls off this ancient tongue perfectly. The most interesting tribe, is the clan of the Seal People, so called because of their use of seal in everything they make or eat or wear, and with their war paint, bone and teeth jewellery, one forgets that Britain used to be home to all sorts of fascinating and long forgotten tribes, so it's nice to be reminded of that in this film.

On the whole The Eagle is an exciting and emotional film, helped by a beautiful and haunting celtic soundtrack, and I felt myself really caring what happened to nearly all of the characters. The scenes of bloodshed are cleverly limited, and are more suggested rather than in your face gore, which actually adds to the horror, as it suggests the act was too violent to see, and so fuels the imagination. If you can get past the American Roman's and the fact that it's not the Gladiator, The Eagle will probably surprise you and sweep you up on a romantic Scottish adventure, making you want to be a kid, playing with plastic swords in the wood's again.

For more gossip and news from Channing, Jamie and the directors of The Eagle, check out our Q&A from the Eagle Press Conference.

THE EAGLE SWOOPS INTO UK CINEMA'S ON THE 23RD OF MARCH

The Eagle Film Page | Channing Tatum Image Library | Jamie Bell Image Library