The background to this story is as fascinating as any involving ancient history. It's the search for the lost Roman Ninth legion - 500 Centurions who vanished in the highlands of Scotland in 140AD - just one of the events that prompted the building of Hadrian's Wall. The look of this movie is sumptuous with good direction, cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle (Heart of the Sea '15) and reasonable performances. The script tends to amble between historical drama, mythological adventure and master/slave buddy story, mostly it succeeds, but has tendencies to losing its way. The locations in Scotland and Hungary are stunning, with actions scenes that make you realise how deadly painful these ancient one-on-one battles were. The main asset to this production is the evocative music score by Icelandic composer Atli Orvarsson who captures the beauty, brutality and haunting atmosphere of the landscapes and human moments - second asset; it doesn't outstay its welcome, clocking in at under 2hrs.
