Centurion

"Legio nona Hispana", or the Ninth Legion. The legion that once been commandeered by Julius Caesar, is the main subject of the 2010 British film, Centurion. Directed by Neil Marshall, who also directed the critically acclaimed horror, The Descent, it holds a great hope to be another great film coming from Britain land. Starring Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, Olga Kurylenko, who should give us hope of solid performance.

Legio IX Hispana, a Roman legion which went missing in the 2nd century. And the main story of the movie is take place from one of the debatable mystery of the legion. Which is, they went missing in the land Britannia while marching to destroy the Picts rebels.

 Centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) is the second-in-command of the Roman frontier outpost in Britannia. One night, in a raid, the guerilla Picts slaughter all of the garrison, capturing Dias in the process. Meanwhile, the governing governor in Britannia, Agricola (Paul Freeman) sent an order to march the Ninth Legion, led by General Titus Flavius Virilus (Dominic West), to the northern frontier to seek and destroy the Picts. He also sent Etain (Olga Kurylenko) a mute Brigantes scout to accompanies them toward the Picts hideouts. Along the way, Dias who managed to escape his captors, cross path with the legion. He then agreed to lead them to the Picts. On the way, the legion got ambushed by the Picts, and almost the whole legion got massacred unless few lucky legionnaires. Knowing that their general is still alive and taken captive, the survivors continues their way north to save their general. And, the adventures of Quintus Dias and a small band of legionnaires begins.

With a solid historical background served as the main plot, the movie shown the brutality of the war in the North. How could the unorganized rebels takes on the might Roman Empire, how did they employ the hit and run tactics, is beautifully shown. And what am I saying with brutal, is really brutal. Head chopped off, throat slits, and many more.

Not forget to mention, the beautiful Scotlands, where the filming location taken, with their lush forest, cold mountain, well you can say it can par to the beautiful land of New Zealand in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

And finally, planned to be release in February 2011 is a film titled Eagle of the Ninth, another film based on the Legio IX Hispana, starring Channing Tatum, which also using the disappearance of the legion in northern part of England. Well, we'll see who managed to comes out as the winner, as both film served us exactly the same background.