Centurion

So, it was off to Nottingham today, to Cineworld, a cinema in the city centre I'd never visited before to see Neil Marshall's new movie 'Centurion'. Having loved Mr Marshall's past movie 'Doomsday' and the period of history Centurion was set in, it's fair to say I was looking forward to the event.

Was I let down? Hell no, it was an amazing Romano/British period romp, lashings of action, a simple story and great actors that didn't ham it up. I like Michael Fassbender and Dominic West anyway, but the supporting cast were all damn good. Without any spoilers the story is simple, it's the story of the Roman 9th Legion (legendary handy dudes) that go up into Scotland (Or Pictland as it was then) to kick arse, and basically have their fortunes reversed, leaving a handful of desperate survivors to get back behind their own lines, and safety.

The plot is simple, there's no complicated sub plots which just let's you sit back and enjoy what is a solid little movie, with some amazing visuals, and some very scary (yet sexy) Scots in pursuit of the survivors. It's not often I enthuse about movies these days but this one is bloody good, 'bloody' being a descriptive word for the film. It's all filmed outdoors and no green screen stuff techno stuff, and I believe it was all filmed on location in the north of England/Scotland.

What vexes me is that my local cinema advertised it (Reel Cinema) then it vanished off their playlist for the following week. It also wasn't on locally at Mansfield or Lincoln either, so why are we not promoting great British films? My local cinema would rather have the now jaded Alice in Wonderland on for another week, surely it can't be taking any money by now?! It just doesn't add up, had they shown this 'Centurion' for a week, I am sure they being a multi screen affair would have made on it.

Anyway, great movie, story, cast - and thanks Neil Marshall for another great film.

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