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Show Me The Way to Go Rome

Rome's expansion and domination of the ancient world has provided a rich vein for storytellers for nearly 2,500 years. Such illustrious figures as Polybius, Shakespeare, and Gibbon (to name but a scant few) have created sweeping epics that recount the deeds of the visionary but prideful men and the cunning but spiteful women who created and ultimately squandered one of the mightiest empires in human history.

There is certainly no shortage of source material. That's what makes it such a shame when a screenwriter fails to imbue a project like "Centurion" with any personality or depth.

"Centurion" focuses on Quintas Dias, a soldier in the Ninth Legion, stationed on the frontier between the Romans and the Picts in England. When the Roman army is destroyed during a foray into Pict territory, Dias, accompanied by a small band of survivors, must evade the enemy and make his way back to Roman-controlled lands.

A great deal of effort has clearly been made towards creating an authentic representation of the time period (specifically AD 117), but nearly nothing has been done to create characters. The only passing nod that is given to creating back-story for the protagonists is a fireside scene where Dias asks each of his companions, "what's your name and where are you from?" While the majority of the blame for this must be placed on the shoulders of writer-director Neil Marshall ("The Descent"), the actors do little to try and compensate. Michael Fassbender ("300", "Inglourious Basterds"), who clearly has a lot of experience playing one-dimensional characters, does nothing to try and inhabit the role of Quintas Dias, barely even bothering to register facial expressions. Olga Kurylenko ("Quantum of Solace") also opts for a one-note performance as Etain, the huntress tasked with finding (and killing) the Romans. Dominic West ("The Wire") emerges unscathed in the small role of General Titus Virilus (viri, get it?), but that's more through sheer charisma than anything else.

While Neil Marshall should be applauded for his direction and his production team deserves very high marks for research and attention to detail, ultimately the movie fails because there is no investment in the characters. The idea of telling the story of common people making their way in the morally ambiguous world of the Roman Empire (done quite effectively in HBOs "Rome") is compelling, but it is important to remember that it is characters, not settings, that ultimately make a story interesting.