Ironclad

Title: Ironclad.
Playtime: 121 min.
Genre: Action Adventure.
Release Date: 26 july 2011.

When I'm about to watch a film on my computer, I make sure I follow a few simple steps to make an atmosphere, fitting to watching a film alone. Yes, sadly I tend to watch some films alone, as there are some that you just know you're not going to see with your pals, and you just have to see it.
Anyways.. I muted the guys at skype, closed my curtains, fixed a bowl of potato chips, and filled up a large glass with some nice, cold water.
My expectations were high as I started the film, partly because I enjoy old thems, but I had also heard some praises about it.

An intro scene shows how the king of England is forced to sign a treaty, made by the rebelling barons of the country, who won the great war that lasted over a year.
The treaty was made for the purpose of limiting the kings power, rendering him unable to controll his country with an iron-hand.
The time passes, and we are sure to understand that King John (Paul Giamatti) is, least said, displeased with the treaty.
He decides that he want to regain his former power, and he shall do so with the help of a danish warlord and his army. King John is certain, that if he seizes every castle on the southern part of England, the rest of the country will fall easily. There's just one, not so large, but very important castle that just wont give up that easily; The castle of Rochester.
To the kings' dislike, there's one of the baron (Brian Cox) who rebelled against him, defending the very castle that would become his victory in this reclaiming of his former power. The baron has rallied few, but strong men to aid him defend against the siege. A templars knight (James Purefoy) has joined them to avenge his dead maester (...or so I guessed at least).
They defend the castle against great waves of countless norwegian enemies, whom oddly sounds like russians, or anything else but norwegians.
I couldn't help but to think of 300 when I saw the movie, since it's basically the same thing with outnumbered men taking on larger numbers, dispite knowing that they cannot succeed.

Brian Cox was convincing has the baron, and he was very accurate for the part. Though I must say his screams didn't sound very... real.

James Purefoy has to be the worst actor in the whole film! He's charming like a cobblestone and all he was ever good at was fighting norwegians. His love scene was very lame as well...

Though I haven't seen many of his movies, Paul Giamatti strikes me as a very talented actor, and I'd love to see some more of his acting. He does his part very well, and he might just be the one carrying the whole film.

The only highlights are the long fighting scenes, with gore effects, brutal violence, and other great stuff men such as I enjoy in a movie. For a low-budget movie, I have to admit they made some pretty nice effects.
A very large, disturbing minus are the "lovescenes" in this movie that feel more stiff than I imagine the Twillight Saga has. (No I have never seen the Twillight movies).
I wouldn't advice a friend to watch this film, but if you're still tempted after reading this, go ahead, it's only two hours.

This movie gets the rating 4 out of 10

PS. I'm still pretty confused on whether to use the word "movie" or "film"...