The Last Legion

I just finished watching “The Last Legion” and surprisingly, I didn’t hate it! Those of you who know me well know my issues with historical movies. I can’t stand when they take stories and screw them up. “Kingdom of Heaven” is one of my favorites because it’s quite accurate, certainly more so that the awful mess that is “Gladiator” or “The Patriot.” The premise of “The Last Legion” is that the final emperor of the west, Romulus Augustus, played by the adorable Thomas Sangster, who was only about twelve when Rome was sacked by the Goths, was sent to Capri to be imprisoner for the rest of this life and that’s about all history knows about it. So this is where the movie picks up. Colin Firth plays Aurelius, a Roman general who swears to protect twelve-year old Caesar. He and his band, along with Mira, a warrior from India, and Ambrosinus, a magician, philosopher and guiardian from Britannia, rescue Romulus and take him to find the 9^th Legion in Britannia. Vortgyn, the Danish warrior in Britannia, desires Romulus’ sword, a sword created to serve the Caesar. Against all odds, Aurelius and his men, eventually supported as well by the Dragon 9^th Legion manage to defeat the “barbarians” and stand for Caesar. The movie ends with Romulus throwing this sword that eventually lands upright in a rock.

There’s then this little epilogue of Ambrosinus walking past this rock with a young boy, telling this boy the story of the Last Legion. He explains that Romulus was adopted by Aurelius and Mira and raised as their own, taking the name Under Dragon, or Pendragon. Ambrosinus also reveals that he’s takenby his Britannic, Druid name, Merlin and reminds the young boy, whom he calls Arhur, that everybody needs legends and stories to keep them going. The film concludes with a shot of the sword and a small bit of the Latin on it still visible, which spell out Excalibur.

Again, there is really no historical background to support any of this, and the legends of Arhur are also incredibly contested, but I thought it was clever how the writers and directors tied these two stories together. It made me think of how Rome itself was founded by Aeneas fleeing Troy and now how Britannia was really created by Romulus fleeing Rome. It was poetic. Maybe because there really is no historical veracity to this story allowed me to like it so much. Colin Firth certainly didn’t hurt this cause either.  

 

Let me also just say that if I ever need someone to give an inspirational speech, I’m calling Colin Firth or tracking him down. I love every time he gives some sort of inspirational speech, whether it’s about protecting young Caesar as a warrior-hero in this movie or his incredible speech in “The King’s Speech” or his terribly messed up Portuguese speech in “Love Actually.” I just love Colin Firth oh so much.