The Eagle is a vivid and at times lucid action adventure, a step above Ridley Scott‘s Robin Hood, owing more to Terrence Malick with a nod to Italian neorealism than anything else. The true star of the production is Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography, capturing with a sense of spontaneity light and dark, interior and exterior and especially moonlight, beautifully.

… The film’s director, Kevin Macdonald, holds the line and never permits the film to become a “buddy road movie.” Indeed this is a rarity in a system of manufacturing film product. That said, the film edges towards poetics while holding that line between hybrid spiritual and action-adventure journey.

… As a political thriller The Eagle is not a misfit – the film is an exploration of the notion of ‘national state.’ It’s an idea that exists within the hearts and minds of those that believe to belong to such a unit, artificial or officially bordered.

… Macdonald  … (keeps)  the drama and the action where it belongs, at human scale.

… the moments edging towards the epic battles contain an atmosphere all their own, a refreshing humanistic approach to the genre.

… The Eagle is just smart enough to operate without the auto-pilot function of many action adventures where you simply don’t care what happens next.

Source: Review by John Fink of The Eagle film based on The Eagle of the Ninth novel

• More on The Eagle of the Ninth film and book on this blog
• Trailer for the film The Eagle
• Focus Features microsite on The Eagle film