My final film of the 2011 Dallas International Film Festival, Ironclad, was suggested by our very own Alex DiGiovanna and I’m pleased to say that it kept my adrenalin pumping through most of the film.
Ironclad, directed by Johnathan English, tells the epic story about a group of Knights Templar that are forced to defend their castle from the tyrannical King John (Paul Giamatti). The Magna Carta has just been signed, however, King John can no longer stay true to his word and orders an elite group of knights to wreck havoc on the south coast of England in hopes of re-establishing himself as a feared ruler once again. James Purefoy plays Templar Knight, Thomas Marshall, who is easily described as a bad ass with a sword. He and his fellow knights must protect and defend Baron Albany (Brian Cox) from the impending siege that is about to take place against King John’s army, which lead to some amazing battle scenes. Also in the film is Kate Mara who plays Lady Isabel, a part I feel was just there for some eye candy and to give a break from all the blood and flying body parts.
The film is full of non stop action and the battle scenes are some of the best I have seen in quite some time. Giamatti plays a very convincing King John, but tends to go a little overboard with the yelling and screaming, after awhile it starts to wear on you.
One of the things I really enjoyed about the film is how realistic (to a sense) the battle scenes looked for an independent budget, granted it was a substantial budget for an independent film (a little over $25 million). Some might not appreciate arms, legs and heads flying all across the screen but I’m sure this is probably how battles really looked back in the 1200’s so enjoy it and be thankful that’s not you fighting.
I also want to give credit to English for staying so true to the time period and using correct terminology, clothing and depictions of the time era. Sometimes in medieval films, directors get carried away and don’t stay true to the era and use modern day terms in the dialog. You can really tell English was extremely passionate about the film and really gave it his all. The one thing I wish he would have eased up on was the shaking of the camera. I understand the effect he was trying to give by shaking the camera in the battle scenes, however, you can only take so much before it becomes more of a nuisance as oppose to a shooting technique.
A few nit picky things that really didn’t take much away from the film, however I feel it’s important to discuss are, the pacing of the film and the “Romance” scenes. The film starts so strong and continues on with constant action, fighting, blood, yelling and screaming when all of a sudden towards the final part of the film it just stops and start to really drag and felt like time was moving really slow. It’s alright to change the pace of a film but not the way it was done in Ironclad. As far as the relationship aspect of the film between Purefoy and Mara, it seemed very awkward to watch it unfold on screen. Purefoy’s character is this religious knight who has taken an oath of silence and Chasity but is having difficulties staying true to his vows once he sees/meets Mara and it’s a bit uncomfortable to watch. Other then these few things the film stands on its own.
Overall I strongly recommend this film to anyone who is a history buff or just big into epic battles. The film runs around 2 hours which is very tolerable especially with all the fighting. I’m not sure if the film has a distributor yet, but it’s showing a June 2011 US release and is making a heck of a run through festivals and different Cons around the country.
Rating: Great Battle sequences with a decent time centered story, also Kate Mara is in an armored corset for most of the film. (8/10)
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