How quaint that only a week after we had an overt tribute to The Princess Bride in Stardust that we have another one that less direct, but in the same spirit all the same (and nearly as funny, though I doubt that it would see it that way). But that’s how I felt after leaving The Last Legion, Doug Lefler’s film about the real story about Excalibur. First of all, if you don’t see the irony and humor around that idea, this is not the movie for you. But if you do have an acute sense of humor and don’t require a laugh track, then this movie could be surprisingly hilarious
The Last Legion starts off in Rome where a young boy Romulus (Thomas Sangster) is being crowned the new Cesar. We are already told that each year a new Cesar is crowned after the old one is killed. So naturally, the night after he gets the crown, the Goths (lead by a flamboyant Peter Mullan) attack the Cesar’s mansion on a hill overlooking Rome (with it’s backside facing a vast wooded forest) The Cesar is taken prisoner, most of his men killed. One who survived is Aurelius (Colin Firth), who vows to get his Cesar back. In his corner is a beautiful fighter (Aishwarya Rai, leaving me to ask why is it that all female fighters have to be gorgeous, and that when they fight, they’re always graceful?) from a distant land. They eventually find the kidnapped Cesar and rescue him from wave upon wave of enemy fighters as they try to rescue the boy and his mentor (Ben Kingsley, obviously feeling that movies today do not require much acting). They finally get through the masses, the boy finds a hidden sword, and they escape the clutches of the evil Wulfila (Rome’s Kevin McKidd). But alas, once they feel safe, they’re faced with the reality that the world has changed, that the young Cesar will not survive a Goth-filled Rome. So they hitch up and in five minutes make their way to Britannia (or England for those who require such explanations. And of course, they have to go through mountains (cue of the Lord of the Rings music, people). When they get there, they realize they’ll have to face another evil that lives there, alongside Wulfila’s men who are much better trackers than I thought possible. Eventually a face off must occur and we must have our heroes outnumbered 100 to 1.
Like I’ve said earlier, Stardust was the one to insist on being labeled with Rob Reiner’s classic fractured fairy tale. The Last Legion is less direct, but still as inspired with it’s silly dialogue, off-and-on humor, and deeds of daring do. But the real reason to watch is the stupid comedy that the movie is laced with. Also laced on top of that is that Colin Firth and Aishwarya Rai play their scenes just a little too seriously, but only making the joke to be on them. The movie is campy, silly, and sometimes enjoyable, but almost against it’s itself. But leave it up to Ben Kingsley to make it okay to laugh. In comparison to the other fantasy movie made earlier, this movie makes the corrections that 300 needed to take.
Does this excuse bad filmmaking? Yes and no. The question is if the movie was set up with the parodies and tongue-in-cheek humor from the beginning? If it wasn’t, then it’s no excuse. Director Doug Lefler has made a goofy, silly little movie of little to no ambition but skilled enough to make interesting. But does that acquit him for all the movie’s sins?
All in all, this movie isn’t great, but it isn’t horrible either. There are worse times spending your money and time on this movie, but I would have hoped you had seen Stardust prior.