INSPIRED by his time growing up near Hadrian's Wall, Neil Marshall's latest splatter-fest is best watched on an empty stomach and with a pinch of salt.
Set around the 1st century AD, Centurion tells the story of an ill-fated Roman legion – the Ninth - who are ordered to wipe out the savage Pict tribe who are fighting a guerilla war against the imperial invaders.
When the army is ambushed by the vicious natives, centurion Quintus (Michael Fassbender) leads the handful of survivors on a perilous quest to safety.
Like Marshall's previous films – Dog Soldiers, The Descent – Centurion is a curious mash-up of several different genres. Think Braveheart meets Gladiator or Die Hard meets Apocalypto.
But one thing the film does promise in abundance is gore, gore and, ooh, more gore. Heads explode, arms are chopped off and people are burnt and squashed.
Prosthetics designer Paul Hyett proudly claims to have got through about 200 litres of blood only half way through the shoot.
Marshall clearly relishes finding ever more messy ways of disposing characters and justifies the blood bath by saying he wanted to realistically depict the brutality of war.
However, the comic strip violence is more likely to issue forth a chuckle than a gasp of shock from the viewer.
Surprisingly for what has been pitched as a “gripping survival thriller” suspense is at a premium, with the lion's share of attention being given over to the film's battle scenes.
Aside from the film's (literally) gutsy action, the film's biggest failing is its inability to provide a truly likeable or identifiable hero.
Picts and Romans alike are equally despicable and revolting and choosing a character to root for is more agonising than deciding whether you'd prefer Stalin or Hitler on a blind date.
Despite its faults, Centurion's strong cast boost the film from being a barely watchable horror flick to being an enjoyable, but silly, action adventure.
Fassbender more than holds his own as an action hero, while former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko is superb as the cold-blooded Pictish warrior Etain, thirsty to avenge the death of her family at the hands of the Romans.
Despite never speaking a word – her tongue was cut out by the heartless Latins – Kurylenko is scarier than Cheryl Cole with a pair of blunt scissors in a footballers' nudist camp.
The impressive cinematography – with its sweeping shots of the Scottish highlands – gives the film an epic feel, despite its obviously limited budget.
With its balls to the walls horror, Centurion may not be for the faint-hearted, but if not taken too seriously, it is a fun and entertaining popcorn movie.
Centurion (15) is out in cinemas today.
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