In the historical drama genre, different films approach realism from different angles. Some will attempt to be as factual as possible and get every detail from the politicking to the battlefield as close to the truth as they can. Others go the opposite direction and just aim for visually stunning battle sequences and just throw the rest to the wind. Ironclad falls closer to the latter but it’s by no means a careless production. Coaxing some great performances from an impressive cast of James Purefoy, Paul Giamatti, Jason Flemyng, and Brian Cox and crafting some disturbingly graphic though brilliantly executed fight sequences, Director Jonathan English gives us a decent castle siege tale that’s ultimately dragged to ruin by everything sandwiched between the violence.
After the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, King John (Giamatti) set about to undo what the historical document had imposed upon him. Having the charter disavowed by the church gave him the authority to wage a war against the Barons, the very men who’d sat him down at a table and made him sign it, and take back “his” country. This doesn’t sit well with Baron Albany (Cox) and so he assembles a collection of warriors including the noble, values-driven Knight Templar Marshall (Purefoy). With a team assembled (Flemyng, Mackenzie Crook, Jamie Foreman, Aneurin Barnard), they set their sights on Rochester a stronghold and major crossroads in the king’s chain of supply. Riding into the castle, they take control from the sniveling Cornhill (Derek Jacobi) and begin their long, arduous campaign of defending the castle from King John and his army of Nordic warriors who fight under threat for the freedom of their families back home.
The film’s major strength is the series of visceral, gut-wrenching steel-to-bone action sequences that can genuinely make you squirm with their intensity. Behandings, decapitations, and an all around bloodbath ensue within the castle’s walls and without as King John mounts one unsuccessful attempt after another to wear down the spirits and strength of the men who’ve taken control of his castle. Beyond just the clanging of swords and the awesome spectacle of trebuchets, there are some great setpieces used here that you wouldn’t get in any film besides one specifically about a castle siege and Jonathan English deserves credit for bringing them to the screen with an impressive visual flair. The battle scenes alone make Ironclad notable, which is good because there’s not much else to be said on its behalf save for the excellent cast that rises above the script.
Purefoy may be the film’s protagonist, but his brooding and meditation on concepts of Templar honor and duty make it easy for the more boisterous and comical personalities of Cox, Flemyng, Foreman and Crook to outshine him. Cox, as always, seems to be having a ball on the screen and he’s in his element as the Baron who switches between solemnly inspirational and jovial at the drop of a metal skullcap. Conversely, Kate Mara always feels out of place and Jacobi can’t seem to overcome the horribly expositional dialogue his character blurts out in the fashion becoming of a cowardly, bureaucratic film persona. Why was Paul Giamatti chosen to play an English king? Granted he’s out of place, but he’s become so good at playing the bad guy endowed with undue authority that it certainly seems like a natural choice.
If all you need to enjoy a film are a few decent performances and some well-executed scenes of violence, then ironclad is the film for you. However, if you intend to also watch the scenes between the violence then you’ll have to endure some painfully slow scenes of expositional recapping that seem to pander to an audience the film thinks is too slow to keep track of their predicament. Ironclad is like a kid with a bag of Pixie Stix in their backyard. They eat one and then run all over the place full speed until the sugar rush wears off, and then they trudge back to the sugary feeding trough for ten minutes to refill and start the circuit anew. The time between the battles wouldn’t seem so drawn out were it not for the painfully stilted dialogue that sounds like it came from a Medieval Times fanfiction story (do those exist?) and attempts to wax philosophic at an inanely shallow level. However, if knights and castle sieges are your delight then maybe that’s a small price to pay, but for most there’s going to be some sticker shock.
"Ironclad" opens July 8, 2011 and is rated R. War. Directed by Jonathan English. Written by Jonathan English, Erick Kastel, Stephen McDool. Starring Brian Cox, James Purefoy, Jason Flemyng, Kate Mara, Paul Giamatti.
