Ironclad

Ironclad is an interesting and action-packed film detailing King John’s siege against the Rochester castle near London. There is some stuff about King John not wanting to sign the Magna Carta, which leads him to wage war against the barons who forced him to sign. At this point, I would like to thank my Shakespeare professor for explaining the British monarchy’s idea of the divine right of kings, which is well dramatized in Ironclad. It’s sounds a bit dull, but Ironclad actually has really nice pacing. There is a sufficient amount of background information provided so that the non-history buffs can follow along, but the film isn’t bogged down with details.

The action sequences are amazing. Apparently, one of the cameramen is actually dressed as an extra, so some of the action sequences make you feel like you’re in the middle of the action. The flipside of that filming style is that some of the action scenes seem a little chaotic and hard to follow. The physical effects are disturbingly good. Seriously, I don’t mind gory movies, but this is a little hard to watch sometimes. If you’re squeamish, you should probably skip this one.  It’s interesting that this is an independent film, because it looks like it could be a major studio production. Great care was taken to make sure that all of the effects look as realistic as possible, hence my issue with the level of gore.  

Paul Giamatti plays King John, and his performance is absolutely amazing and at the climax of the film, his monologue is incredible to watch. That is easily my favorite part of the film. Ironclad has a little bit of everything: a tiny hint at romance, history, and a lot of action.