Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2012

In around 140 AD, a young Roman commander (Channing Tatum, an apparent graduate of the prestigious Keanu Reeves School of Acting) and his loyal-ish Briton slave (Jamie Bell) venture into the terra incognita beyond Hadrian’s Wall to find out what happened 20 years earlier to the Roman Ninth Legion, led by the commander’s father and never seen again. Not great, but this well-paced action piece by Kevin Macdonald (Last King of Scotland, State Of Play) features a coherent storyline, gorgeous cinematography and, refreshingly, eschews CGI in its well-choreographed, almost hallucinatory battle scenes.