So I saw 'The Last Legion'

It's a movie for kids, what with the protagonist being a kid (Thomas Sangster as Romulus Augustus, the last Caesar of a crumbling Roman empire). And it's a movie about Excalibur, the sword, and therefore it falls, of course, under the category of fantasy.

It also falls under the category of adventure, as Aurelius (a not-so-beefy Colin Firth), a commander of the Roman army on security detail for said last emperor, gets more than he bargained for as the very life of his young charge becomes threatened when the Goths, being Goths, launch a treacherous attack on the home of Rome's first family; kill the emperor's parents; and ship the boy to a prison island. The boy is not alone though, as he has the company of guru Ambrosinus aka Merlin (Ben Kingsley), a mysterious personality with a knack for showmanship and wise words.

The adventure begins as Aurelius, with the help of his trusty band of comrades and a mysterious but deadly beauty (Aishwarya Rai as Mira), sets out to spring the emperor. The emperor and his guru are sprung and, somehow, they chance upon a mysterious sword, which by posterity would be known by the name of Excalibur.

What's a mystery to me, though, is what purpose the sword side-story serves in the movie; leave it out and no one would be the wiser.

Back from the prison island they learn that they had been had by Rome's politicians, who apparently have cut a deal with the Goths. Aurelius is not impressed and he decides to go to Britannia in search of the Ninth Legion to have them march to Rome and confront the Goths (if I'm not mistaken --the storyline is hard to follow at times; my mind kept on wandering trying to figure out what the deal was with the sword side-story).

They locate the Ninth Legion but only to be confronted by local baddy Vortgyn (Harry Van Gorkum), who apparently has a history with Ambrosinus (something to do with the sword). The movie climaxes in a battle pitching the Ninth Legion against Vortgyn's army and ends with our young emperor denouncing war by throwing the sword into the air, which then lands on and gets stuck in a boulder.

And so the legend begins.

The Last Legion is riddled with clichés and the production has the quality of a play instead of a movie. It would've been a spectacle indeed if the movie was made with extravagant production and grown-ups in mind.

(Running time: 102 minutes)