Here is the second part of the review series. Enjoy reading them.
According to IBN live Aishwarya Rai failed to rock the U.S box office. The movie is a boring sword-and-sandal epic.
No one is even talking about an Indian actress making it to the
Inrich.com dubs Last legion an epic mess. The review says:
The Last Legion" has everything an epic could want, except the attention of its audience.
Sword fights, horses, brave men fighting to the death to defend a principle, clashing armies, a fortress stormed and protected -- it's all there. And none of it is interesting.
Knoxnews says that the movie was simple but sometimes silly and it has two attracting issues: the Arthurian legend, and Colin Firth. Rai and Firth’s onscreen romance has been shown to be very pure and chaste not hot and erotic. It further says,
Though the film is called “The Last Legion,” it takes its time getting to the titular force or even a mention of it. Mainly it’s the tale of a brave boy who wears a perpetual frown, a wise man who may or may not be a sorcerer, and a soldier who’s grown cynical about his service but still has enough energy to think about romance with a beautiful female warrior.
There’s plenty of violence, mostly bloodless, which adds to the quaintness of the film. “The Last Legion” seems like an action film for children, even if its main assets are more for adults.
Metromix reports:
The actors are admirably sincere and committed in roles that could have deteriorated into hamminess. Firth is topnotch as the noble soldier, and his brawling fight scenes are considerably tougher than his scraps with Hugh Grant in the "Bridget Jones" films. His natural comic instincts come into play now and again to excellent effect. When a brigade of warriors attack, he shrugs, "Not as many as I expected," neatly straddling the line between macho boastfulness and an admission that this film couldn't afford to hire the entire Screen Extras Guild.
Mlive.com says that the film is the most forgettable cinematic event of the summer. The review titled, “Film: Forgettable 'Legion' feels like a rip-off” says:
It's not surprising to learn that "The Last Legion" director Doug Lefler has previously helmed episodes of "Hercules" and "Xena: Warrior Princess."
This movie has a similar unpretentious, farcical vibe, although it's missing the nudge-winkiness. Sure, it makes us laugh, but at the wrong moments. When it wants us to laugh, we snort derisively. This is a problem.
Jack Mathews of nydailynews.com writes:
The $70 million "Last Legion" is a soft-porn version of a sword-and-sandal epic. Though many people are rent with knives, arrows, axes, swords and spears, we are spared images of actual penetration.
Whether this was intended to win a PG-13 rating, or the filmmakers didn't have enough money left after paying their excellent cast to afford quality special effects, it makes the action scenes look about as authentic as the sword-fighting skeletons in "Jason and the Argonauts."
Oh my news reports:
Swashbuckle is in curious short supply in "Last Legion," a mythology-flavored fantasy epic from Dino De Laurentiis' epic factory, tossed unmercifully into
Startribune reports:
An old-school sword-and-sandal spectacle on an almost-epic scale, "The Last Legion" is such a square and diligent piece of entertainment that it put me in a nostalgic mood for the honest B-pictures they don't make anymore. It boasts tumultuous battle scenes with real stuntmen rather than CGI effects, real locations, a story line as straight and true as a lance with no postmodern ironies, and an expert cast that, even in paycheck roles, delivers honest work before cashing the check.
Titled “Sword and Sandal Snoozer” Straight.com says,
The Last Legion is quite a prim example of the sword-and-sandals genre. The action is at best okay, looking at times like a cheap Italian import from the early 1960s. The film's only salvation is its young star. Sangster (who mutates into an extremely improbable Arthurian character) delivers his clichéd lines so sincerely; he manages to infuse them with genuine emotion. If not for him, the film would be a complete waste of time.
Telegram.com dumps the movie saying that it is for school boys who does not care about historical accuracy but the onscreen swash buckler actions. The main problem with the movie is that it mixes history and adventure. The characters do not look impressive when they are fighting. The Goths appeared more like the Scots. The review says that Firth actually tried to become a James Bond in armor.
The Star.com says:
There's a modestly amusing mid-'50s vibe at work in the straight-ahead sword-and-sandal adventure The Last Legion, and it's likely to work most effectively on viewers either old enough to remember Tyrone Power or too young to care. Anyone in between is in for something of a late-summer snooze.
Vueweekly dubbed Last legion as a Saturday matinee fare.
This adventure chronicle traces the Excalibur blade as it is whisked from its secret hiding place on an island prison in the Mediterranean by Romulus Augustus (Thomas Sangster), the kid emperor who’s meant to be the last of Caesar’s bloodline, to a grassy fortress in England where a super-battle provides our History Channel-esque climax, and finally into a big ol’ rock where it patiently waits to be famously plucked out by King Arthur in numerous other movies. It probably won’t surprise anyone to discover that The Last Legion is strictly Saturday matinee fare: treading lightly through legend and history, mixing up dopey gags and dopier love subplots with plentiful swordplay and sword fetish, it is perfectly suitable for the kids and passably engaging for the parents.
No matter what people say, Bollywood will remain Bollywood and
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