Errol Flynn was a Nazi. So, looking back at his many movies in which buckles were swashed and ropes swung upon, it’s hard to think of him as cool. Redressing the balance and creating good medieval movies has met with mixed results over the years. Who can forget the inexplicably dire First Knight with Richard Gere? Everyone, hopefully. Robin Hood (the one with Kevin Costner) was pretty good, and A Knight’s Tale seems to have won over modern audiences with its bizarre fusion of jousting and modern rock.

***THE PLOT***
Edmond (Jim Caviezel) and Fernand (Guy Pearce) are bestest buddies, sailing around France for some reason I forget – cargo ship stewards or something. Anyways, pulling ashore to seek medical assistance for their ailing captain (he has the wonderfully nondescript illness known as “brain fever”), they stumble across the secret prison of Napoleon Bonaparte, and after a swift battle with the prison guards, Napoleon protests their innocence – but also hands Edmond a seemingly innocent letter to take back to the mainland. Fernand witnesses this act, and growing jealous after being repeatedly bettered in life and love by the illiterate Edmond, he betrays him and turns him over to the officials.

Jim Caviezel is one of those actors whose face you’ll know, but probably won’t remember for doing a superb acting job – he’s a solid enough leading man but certainly not breaking the mould in the same way Ed Norton does, for example. His previous outings include Frequency and, um, Angel Eyes with J-Lo. Here, he plays the bewildered innocent to perfection, and maybe doesn’t harness his rage enough to seem incredibly determined to go shove his old friends into the mud. He does manage to pull off some convincing moves during the films superb (if brief) swordfights.

Other acting comes from the late Richard Harris, performing a far better role here than in the Harry Potter flicks (shame that Dumbledore is the role for which he will be remembered most, seeing as he’s had far more interesting roles – and experiences away from the silver screen). As the preacher-prisoner Abbe, he is both a sage-like mentor and a valuable best friend to Edmond, and they manage to keep each other sane until Edmond’s daring escape from the prison island. Oh, and he looks a bit like Buster Merrifield.

The best support has to be the smuggler friend that Edmond gains on his journey back to Marseilles – played by Luis Guzmán who you may also recognise from Boogie Nights, Traffic and Carlito’s Way. His scenes with Caviezel are all excellent – what could have been a pathetic manservant style role (which it kinda still is) is turned into a good portrayal of a man bound by honour to another.

***ACTION UP***

There are also some very effective comic scenes to lift the mood after the prison escape, which are very welcome after the rather dramatic and emotional goings-on beforehand. In fact a good balance of playful humour and convincing drama runs all the way through the picture. It feels like a modern film but has all the best parts of a classic swashbuckler, including double crosses, stand-offs, satisfying revenge and stunts with horses.