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Entertaining but chock-full of modern epic movie cliches (spoilers)

posted 11 years ago by matt-baen
3 replies | jump to latest

The Last Legion is not a bad movie by any means. It's very entertaining but chock full of movie cliches old and new, so much so that it's almost a TVtropes case study. I don't care about historical accuracy nor fidelity to legend, so if it wants to make the prequel to Camelot a combination of Braveheart and Phantom Menace I have no problem with that. 6/10. (Nearly 7/10.)

cliches:

the kid is a likable scamp - T2, Phantom Menace

chosen boy - T2, Phantom Menace

bad guy wearing scary mask - Darth Vader, Willow

unbelievably ass-kicking chick - Serenity, King Arthur, Angelina Jolie movies etc. (She's so ass-kicking that Roman soldiers stand around and watch her fend off a bunch of guys without helping her!)

imperial and/or feudal warriors anachronistically fight against tyranny (they're caesarists!) and for human rights - Braveheart

flirting by fighting - Daredevil

Jedi guru - Star Wars franchise

everyone wants the magical McGuffin - Lord of the Rings, Conan (2011)...

the dude is a lady - Dragonslayer

Other notes:

royal bloodline makes rule legitimate - Hail Caesar?

unnecessary but cool ancient high tech (multi-bolt firing weapon, snap-together grappling hook crossbow)

when boy becomes a man he develops an English accent

[–] nerowolfgal 10 years ago

Absolutely! It was painful to watch EVERY SINGLE cliche possible be squeezed into just one movie. And you are right again. I kept feeling I was watching a bargin basement knock-off of Lord of the Rings; especially when they were crossing the Alps. It was a frame by frame rip-off as the small group walked across the highest peaks they could find. All the time that scene was playing I was yelling at the screen "You morons! Take the well-established trade roads across the Alps that the Roman Empire had put so much energy into building!'

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] magolding 9 years ago

royal bloodline makes rule legitimate - Hail Caesar?

That is not a move cliche or trope. That is a political ideology which was believed in by a large proportion of the human race for countless thousands of years and is still believed in by some.