Quiz Time: Imagine you are Channing Tatum in Ancient Rome. Your father led an expedition into unknown territory and disappeared along with his entire army. How long would you wait before going to look for him? 20 years? Correct answer! Great. Now, who would you take along as a right-hand man? Yes! Your slave who despises you! Congratulations, you are now primed for The Eagle trailer.
Fine, maybe Tatum couldn't lead an army into forbidden territory when he was six. Still, bringing an angry slave along? All that aside, The Eagle trailer has some things going for it. Jamie Bell especially looks intense as the bitter slave, and it's still nice to see Donald Sutherland in anything, though he's not even trying to fake an accent here. The scenery looks amazing and the use of hand-held camera outside of the battle scenes is a nice change of pace for this type of film. Also, the Scottish Barbarians who show up look totally menacing.
Focus chose to delay the release of this one, which sometimes doesn't bode well. But was it because of the movie itself or because they had no idea how to market it? I ask because the story this trailer hatches out goes all over the place, and I can't tell whether it gives away the whole movie or none of it. Is this a more intimate and complex master/slave story or just Apocalypto in Rome with more two-timing? Based on the trailer it could go either way. Or both. Or maybe neither? Since Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, State of Play) is behind this, let's give it the benefit of the doubt.
Verdict: Sold for now.
If it gets taken down from You Tube, head over to Apple