EJ Padero dot Com: Volume 1

Set against the fall of Rome and its last emperor, The Last Legion recounts the story of 12 year-old Romulus Augustus. On the day of his coronation, barbarians took over the Roman Empire, captured Romulus and exiled him to the island of Capri. With the help two dear friends, Aurelius and Ambrosinus, Romulus escapes from the island fortress and travels to Britannia in search of the last Roman legion – Rome’s last chance for freedom. [Clickthecity.com]

The cast, apart from Colin Firth (probably best known for his role in the Bridget Jones movies), SIR Ben Kingsley (Gandhi!), Aishwarya Rai (Vavavoom Bollywood diva, voted as “the most beautiful woman in the world” this year, Miss India & Miss World 1994), and Thomas Sangster (“Love Actually” and “Nanny McPhee”); is comprised of notable talents in recent popular films and TV series such as Rome, Kingdom of Heaven, The Mummy / The Mummy Returns, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Syriana, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), Master and Commander, Troy, and The Chronicles of Narnia (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe).

The Last Legion trailer

The plot seemed okay to me. The cast was impressive. The trailer was interesting. It seemed like a very promising movie – or so I thought.

It was off to a good start, but quickly lost momentum and did a nose dive to a lousy, confused finish. Colin Firth is terribly miscast as an action hero and the script writer(s) should be executed. It was painfully obvious that the film’s budget went mostly to actors’ talent fees. I just had to put this together to get rid of the mental diarrhea and/or brain tumor I ended up with after watching the film.

I have too much respect for Kingsley and Firth to believe they did this for anything other than the money, and to their credit, they give their best efforts.

- Jack Mathews, New York Daily News

“…it’s never wise to underestimate the power or universal appeal of Rai’s cleavage…”

- Nathan Rabin, Onion AV Club

“A depressing pageant of bad dialogue, uninspired sword fights, corny getaways, and loads of completely unintentional sexual innuendo.”

- Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine

Related content:
The Last Legion [Official Website]
The Last Legion (2007) [IMDB]
The Last Legion [Rotten Tomatoes]

The Last Legion official movie trailer [Official Website]
The Last Legion trailer [YouTube]