Writer/director Neil Marshall examines the fate of Rome's legendary Ninth Legion in this dull and episodic take on the myth. In Britain in AD 117, the legion is sent to vanquish the Picts and their leader Gorlacon (Ulrich Thomsen), only to face a sustained onslaught under the command of the mute Etain (Quantum of Solace Bond girl Olga Kurylenko). Hero Quintus (a weak Michael Fassbender) and his fast-diminishing platoon must then evade capture as they race for the Roman frontier. Marshall takes the survival template from his previous films Dog Soldiers and The Descent into the sub-Gladiator/300 arena, but fails to invest his core characters with any personality, meaning who lives or dies becomes immaterial amid the grungy battle footage drenched in CGI gore. Though it's technically impressive and has an epic sweep, the lack of suspense and emotional involvement makes this little more than a chase movie in ancient garb.

Britain, A.D. 117. Quintus Dias, the sole survivor of a Pictish raid on a Roman frontier fort, marches north with General Virilus' legendary Ninth Legion, under orders to wipe the Picts from the face of the Earth and destroy their leader, Gorlacon.