Story At The Movies: The Eagle
When you go to see an action movie starring the Hunk-of-the-Month Channing Tatum as a Roman commander trying to bring order to 2nd century Britain along with his faithful, um, British companion, Jamie Bell, and featuring "guest star Donald Sutherland," you aren't expecting 'Hamlet" or a good movie of any kind. Just your basic smash-em bash-em actioner. Was I surprised. "The Eagle" is a very well-thought-out and researched tale of the lost Roman legion of 9000 men that marched into ancient Scotland and disappeared without a trace about 1900 years ago. Our two heroes are after the lost symbol of that legion, a golden eagle. They have more than a few adventures on their way to glory. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times was like-wise somewhat surprised at the quality of this film that comes out of left field: