Movies I've Missed Until Now: The Eagle (2011)

Given my fondness for historical adventure movies, I’m surprised I never saw THE EAGLE, a 2011 film about ancient Romans versus ancient Britons, another favorite plot element for me. Channing Tatum is the new commander of an outpost in northern Britain who carries a family shame: his father was one of the officers in the infamous Lost Legion, the Ninth Legion that marched even farther north and vanished, their disappearance prompting the construction of Hadrian’s Wall.

Now there are rumors that the golden eagle standard carried by the Ninth has been seen being used in religious rites by the savages north of the wall, and so Tatum’s character decides to find and retrieve it, accompanied only by a slave (Jamie Bell) he’s saved from being killed by a gladiator.

Plenty of running, riding, and swordfighting ensue. THE EAGLE is a bloody, violent movie, but the gore isn’t overdone. It uses ’way too much quick-cut editing during some of the fight scenes, a cinematic technique I really dislike, but there’s enough regular action to more than make up for that, and the movie captures a sweeping, epic feel at times that really works for me. There’s a scene involving the surviving remnants of the Ninth that’s great, almost a stand-up-and-cheer moment.

I like Channing Tatum. He usually plays a lovable goofball and does a good job of it. He plays his role in THE EAGLE absolutely straight and turns in a decent performance, although he’s overshadowed a little by Jamie Bell as his morally conflicted sidekick. Donald Sutherland and Dakin Matthews play ancient Romans and are fine as always.

This is kind of an odd movie for me, because in tales like this, my natural sympathy tends to fall more on the side of the Britons than the Romans. But by boiling the focus down to just a few characters, the overall conflict doesn’t matter as much, so I had no trouble rooting for the Romans this time.

THE EAGLE is a well-made film that I thoroughly enjoyed. If you enjoy historical adventure movies, I think it’s well worth watching.