Thousand Foot Krutch

Thousand Foot Krutch
I love this band. I listen to them daily. Even though we are looking at another camera, we all look like we're alert for it being a fan signing and it's 11:30 p.m. on a Friday.

14 February 2011

The Eagle succeeds and pleased me very much

By Rachel Weatherford



Director Kevin Macdonald turns an action-packed novel into a gripping movie that explores a young Roman centurion’s drive to redeem his family honor by finding and returning a famed golden eagle to Rome, lost when Flavius Aquila, Marcus Flavius Aquila’ father, and his legion disappeared in northern Britain 20 years earlier. His loyal slave Esca accompanies him, and they must cross Hadrian’s Wall and enter the wilds of northern Britain (modern-day Scotland). In the process he discovers the goodness of humanity – and the brutality of it.

Injured in battle, the younger Aquila is tired of sitting around and suffering because of his father’s loss. He tells a Roman senator that he will either find and return the Eagle and the remaining legionnaires, or die trying. He finds the Eagle of the Ninth, learning of his father’s bravery and honor in his final moments of battle. As they flee to the safety of the other side of the wall, Esca and Aquila are being hunted by the Blue Seal people for stealing the eagle back and because they feel Esca betrayed them. When he becomes injured and cannot go on, and tells Esca to go without him, Esca says he will not leave unless Aquila frees him. Aquila frees Esca. Esca then runs away and returns with the remnants of Aquila’s father’s army to make one last stand as Romans against the tribe.

Channing Tatum stars as Marcus Aquila. Jamie Bell is Esca. Tatum isn’t just eye candy like people might assume but has an actual backbone.

Tatum’s character does some brutal things, like stabbing a fleeing boy, a soldier, who couldn’t have been more than thirteen. He also does some great things, like saving Bell from certain death in the gladiatorial ring, who becomes his slave and best friend by the end of the movie. He also risks his life to save his men multiple times, and he is an intelligent, great and brave commander, even though at certain parts the audience seems to wonder if he’s going to make a terrible mistake just like his father and shame his family forever.

The movie, surprisingly, has very few sexual scenes, the most disturbing of which was a ritual by the tribes of Britain in welcoming their leader. The movie did have a lot of sexual innuendos and references to outside encounters. There was no female lead character at any point in the movie, and the scenes with women were of them either attending gladiatorial games or standing outside silently while the male members of their tribes tramped past.

There was only one noticeable cuss word.

However, the movie does include extensive scenes of violence and war. Considering this takes place in Britain when military-minded Rome wanted to conquer the world, it makes sense. An interesting note is that the movie does not actually show much of the killing on-screen, except when Tatum drowns the enemy leader of the Blue Seal people, although the viewers are well aware of what is going on off the screen. There’s moments when it seems like they will show something, and then the camera will flip around to one of the other characters and then back to the now dead person. Also, apparently no one in the movie appreciates children, because several of them are killed on-screen and off-screen, one by his own father.

The costumes looked as if they got the smallest budget, and the set design of the houses looked far too modern. The indenginous tribes were portrayed as total savages, which served to make the Romans look less brutal, but in truth the Romans were extremely vicious and ordered soldiers who let nothing stand in the way of conquering everyone.

Despite a couple obvious flaws, I wasn’t asking for my eight dollars back, and neither was anyone else in the theater.


Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel

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