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Last Legion, The

EMAILPRINTThe Weinstein Company

Last Legion, The reviews
37
5.7 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 12 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 25 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Action  |  Adventure  |  War

Written by: Carlo Carlei (story)
Peter Rader (story)
Valerio Manfredi (story), Tom Butterworth
Jez Butterworth

Directed by: Doug Lefler

Release Date:
Theatrical: August 17, 2007
DVD: December 18, 2007

Running Time: 110 minutes, Color

Origin: USA / UK / France

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence

Starring Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, Aishwarya Rai, Kevin McKidd, John Hannah, Peter Mullan, Rupert Friend, and Thomas Sangster

The Last Legion is a fantasy action-adventure in the vein of The Sword and the Stone set against the Fall of Rome and its last emperor, 12 year-old Romulus Augustus, the boy who would rule for a day before losing all that he loved: his family, his home. and an empire that once stood for truth and honor. Imprisoned on the island-fortress of Capri, Romulus searches for a means to escape. He discovers instead "Exaliburnus", the legendary sword of Julius Caesar, and realizes that he must do all in his power to save Rome. Aided by the clever strategies of his teacher Ambrosinus and the heroic skills of his loyal legionnaire Aurelius, Romulus escapes the island. Accompanied by his friends and a mysterious envoy from Constantinople, Romulus travels to Britannia in search of the last Roman Legion – the fabled Dragon Legion. There, Romulus will fight alongside his friends to make his last stand for Rome and take his first steps to becoming a man and he king who would father a legend. (The Weinstein Company)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

63

TV Guide Ken Fox

While not exactly in the same league as the visually dazzling "Excalibur" and saddled with cheap looking CGI effects, this Anglo-Italian co-production has quite a bit of fun finding a direct path from the fall of Rome to the birth of Arthurian legend.

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50

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The film is nothing to be ashamed of (especially if you're Kingsley). But it's as if everybody involved knows what the deal is.

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50

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Every once in a while, though, Firth's eyebrow hints, Can you believe I'm wearing this dorky leather breastplate?

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50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Though it's never wise to underestimate the power or universal appeal of Rai's cleavage and lustrous hair, that's about all that sets the doggedly mediocre The Last Legion apart from every other sword-and-sandal epic about the origins of Camelot.

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50

ReelViews James Berardinelli

When a movie wants to be sold as a spectacle, it had better deliver something more spectacular than this.

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50

Los Angeles Times John Anderson

Not as bad as it sounds nor as good as it might have been.

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40

The New York Times Neil Genzlinger

This might have made a good children’s film.

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40

Variety Joe Leydon

Seriously hampered by glaring inconsistencies of tone and intent, and often feels like a series of highlights carved out of a much longer epic.

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40

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

Lackluster and decidedly old-fashioned (in the worst way).

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40

LA Weekly Jim Ridley

Second-rate sword-and-sorcery saga.

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38

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Distinctly humdrum, The Last Legion, a boy's adventure story that seems to have been dragged out of the vaults of some early-sixties TV series.

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11

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

The Last Legion offers guilty-pleasure fun in a cheesy, very De Laurentiis way (much like 1976's Mandingo rip-off Drum), but, in the end, it's just not a very inspired or well-conceived film, despite Kingsley's strangely endearing turn as the proto-Merlin.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 25 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Rekha gave it a0:
Horrible acting. Laughable costumes. Pathetic dialogue. Lame direction. This is an insult to actors and filmmakers.

James E. gave it a10:
An enjoyable film with the fall of Rome. Great movie with an intriguing plot. Bob B should be raped by a retard with AIDS.

Tony M gave it a6:
An Ok dramatised historical movie however it's filled with cheap CGI and a bad script. Read the book first, it's so much better than the movie.

Paul J. gave it a7:
This is really a good TV movie, however it does have lots of action and although looks on the cheap side i really enjoyed it. Great DVD for the lads.

Peggy gave it a9:
Entertaining movie,appealing characters--I liked it.

Daniel S. gave it an8:
I enjoy B movies. This is a good B movie. Ben Kingsley does especially well. However, if you can only tolerate A list fare, stay away.

Adam G. gave it a7:
Good historical entertainment. I'd read the book first. Aishwarya Rai is incredibly hot too.

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