Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
As the Roman empire crumbles, young Romulus Augustus flees the city and embarks on a perilous voyage to Britain to track down a legion of supporters.
The Last Legion is a moderately entertaining but uneven historical fantasy that attempts to bridge Roman history with Arthurian legend via the Excalibur connection. The plot is formulaic and riddled with historical liberties that strain credibility even for fantasy, and the pacing is inconsistent. Acting ranges from serviceable (Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley) to wooden in supporting roles. Cinematography is competent with decent location work and period production design but nothing visually distinctive. The Arthurian-Roman mashup concept is genuinely novel in conception, giving it a bump in distinctiveness, though the execution doesn't fully realize the premise's potential. The ending feels rushed and overly convenient, leaning on the Arthurian mythology payoff that feels more clever than earned.