Poor James Purefoy, until recently his biggest claim to fame in the movie world was being replaced by Hugo Weaving in V For Vendetta. But Purefoy' seems to have found his niche as medieval badass warriors in Soloman Kane, TV's Camelot and now Ironclad. The movie would have you believe it's charting events that happened in England following the signing of the Magna Carta in the early 13th century...but it's really a middle-ages, actionfest, reworking of The Magnificent Seven.
And jolly good it is too. It's not directed with any particular flair, and the budget looks like it could snap at any moment, but it's fast paced, exciting, and looks good for an expenditure which is vastly smaller than Ridley Scott's Robin Hood.
Purefoy is an imposing screen presence, Brian Cox, Charles Dance and Derek Jacobi add gravitas, Kate Mara brings the sexiness, Paul Giamatti gleefully chews the scenery and the rest of the merry men (including Jason Flemying and Mackenzie Crook) liven up the drab castle they're defending. And boy, is it brutal. I'm pretty comfortable to see decapitated limbs flying all over the screen but I was pretty impressed with King John's use of Brian Cox's rebellious Baron in his giant catapult.
It's not entirely historically acurate and you get the nagging feeling that if it were directed by Centurion's Neil Marshall that Ironclad would be twice as cool, but it's pretty entertaining as it stands.
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