Written by Ben Robinson, Education, DFI

Film: Ironclad
Year: 2011
Director: Jonathan English
Genre: Action, Adventure
Cast: Kate Mara, Brian Cox and Paul Giamatti

Opening today across Doha, ‘Ironclad’, directed by Jonathan English, tells the brutally simple tale of a motley bunch of renegade soldiers and mercenaries in a blood and mud-filled 13th Century England as they fight to the death to save their enslaved country from the murderous tyranny of King John (played with chubby menace by American actor Paul Giamatti). Led by the grizzled old soldier William De Albany (played with righteous grit by masterful veteran actor Brian Cox) and disillusioned Knight Templar Thomas Marshall (James Purefoy, doing his best Russell Crowe impersonation), our heroic band of freedom fighters storm the strategically-important Rochester Castle, and fight off the King’s men in a series of ultraviolent and gory action sequences that should please the most bloodthirsty of cinema-goers. And that’s about it for storyline, give or take a few volumes of old English history (but we’re here for the fighting, let’s be honest!)

I entered the cinema auditorium with very low expectations of ‘Ironclad’, as I’m not generally a fan of murky medieval battle movies. My first observation was that the cinematography lacked a certain epic scope, and (being an aspiring filmmaker myself) I quickly began to concoct alternative shots to the ones I was presented with. Next on my list of complaints was the screenplay, which felt one or two drafts away from being ready to shoot (the dialogue in particular felt a bit creaky). But, despite these shortcomings, I soon began to warm to this film. “Why should the 13th Century be shot like a glossy advert anyway?”, I realized. Of course it would be a nasty, inhospitable, uncomfortable environment. The slightly crude approach of it all (probably imposed by budget restrictions) began to work in the movie’s favour. And then the action kicked in! Even though I don’t care for the ‘wobble-cam’ aesthetic, where the camera moves around so much that the poor viewer struggles to see what is actually going on – ushered in by ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and given free reign in the ‘Bourne’ trilogy – I couldn’t deny the raw appeal of these homicidal sword-wielding fight scenes. Director Jonathan English also wisely invested in a talented special effects team, who take great care in chopping off arms, legs and heads in a spectacular spree of onscreen mutilations and decapitations. Not to everyone’s taste, but the gore-hound in me was most satisfied!

‘Ironclad’ was produced in the UK, under extremely challenging economic circumstances during the height of the Recession in 2009, and producer Andrew Curtis described this production process to Variety Magazine as “more complex than a London Underground map” (18 producers are listed in the credits!). Apparently, the film was originally supposed to star Megan Fox and a host of other A-List names, but when Fox departed the production the budget was slashed violently down to size, and much of the cast replaced with less bankable names. Despite these problems, I found the cast to be a hugely likeable lot. Jason Flemyng (‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’) and Jamie Foreman (‘Layer Cake’) in particular looked like they were having a great time on set, and their raucous performances shine through all the gloom and death that surrounds them.

My verdict: more enjoyable than last year’s plodding ‘Robin Hood’, but less enjoyable than a good curry with friends. If you’re looking for 2 hours of violence and mud and horses and beards, then ‘Ironclad’ is the movie for you, and is out now in Doha cinemas! Otherwise, I’d choose another movie.

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