Blokes, Romans & Fassbender

2010 is a strong year for Brit directors at the box office. Christopher Nolan (Inception), Ridley Scott (Robin Hood), David Yates (Harry Potter 7), Mike Newall (Prince Of Persia), Michael Apted (Narnia 3), Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim) and many others will shortly release what will surely become some of the biggest films of the year at the box office. A welcome addition to that list is Neil Marshall, who made such a huge impact last decade with Dog Soldiers, The Descent and Doomsday. He's back with Centurion, a period piece which follows the last few surviving members of Rome's Ninth Legion as they fight their way through Scotland to safety.

And I'm happy to say it's very much a Neil Marshall movie. There's the familiar structure of a small, but able, group trapped behind enemy lines, trying to get to freedom. Like contemporary Westerns The Warriors and Escape From New York which inevitably inspired this (and Doomsday), there's also a Butch and Sundance vibe as the life-long warriors face the end of an era.

The trapped group in question are written and performed to a degree that we can identify each of them as individuals (not always the case in a chase movie) as well being likable and grounded enough as characters to empathise with. As expected, the dialogue is often loaded with down to earth, laddish quips which helps put you in their dire predicament. After his impressive performance in Inglorious Basterds, Michael Fassbender firmly establishes himself as a leading man...but one of a time long past. That's not a bad thing as he presents a strong, unflabbable, David Niven-esque, stiff-upper-lip quality that's all but disappeared in English actors. He's joined by the commanding, but boozy, Dominic West as his boss (who unfortunately gets dispatched way too soon...showcasing just what a fine job he does here). David Morrisey, Liam Cunningham, Noel Clarke and JJ Feild make up the rest of the memorable , er, merry men.

Add to that the striking Olga Kurylenko as the mute, Pict warrior who hunts the boys down. She's reminiscent of Ray Park in The Phantom Menace; no dialogue, but a ferocious and imposing physical presence that more than meets the stature of Fassbender and company. Imogen Poots makes a cute and welcome distraction...before the bloodletting begins in earnest once again.

And in typical Marshall style, it does indeed get bloody. The savagery of his previous movies is revisited...but thankfully without the appalling MTV editing that accompanied Doomsday. Also, Marshall's long time D.P. Sam McCurdy delivers some career best photography, presenting a harsh yet beautiful landscape in which the story unravels. It's paramount in a fantasy or historic epic, whether it's Lord of the Rings or Gladiator, that the storytellers create a world that you can utterly believe in...otherwise it'll undermine the whole narrative. The millennium old Scotland here is pitch perfect, in painterly wide shots or exhilarating helicopter shots raise this, visually, head and shoulders above everything Marshall has done before.

While critics have rightly pointed out that the characters aren't as rich as in his first two classics, there's more than enough relentless action, witty dialogue, inventive dismemberment, historic depth and battle/survival strategy to make this a must re-watch movie. A definite step up from Doomsday, Centurion is to be recommended. However, if you're expecting a violent Sean Pertwee death scene, you may have to wait until Marshall adapts the TV classic, The Professionals.