Warrior Princess” with Olga Kurylenko. Review

Jesse Johnson’s historical drama Boudica tells the story of the legendary warrior who led the Empire in 61 AD. e. revolt of the Celtic tribes of Britain against the Romans. Yulia Shagelman this film made me remember not so much Tacitus as the fantasy action films of the 1980s – and, alas, the comparison turns out to be not in favor of the new picture.

The leader of the Iceni tribe, Boudicca (until the end of the twentieth century, she was more often called Boadicea in the Roman manner, but then switched to a more correct Celtic pronunciation) is one of the great heroines of British history, the embodiment of the unbending island spirit. There is even a monument to her in London, not far from the Houses of Parliament.

However, oddly enough, her valiant story has rarely been portrayed in films. You can recall Bill Anderson’s 2003 TV movie, where the courageous queen was played by Alex Kingston, and the script was written by one of the most honored figures of British TV, Andrew Davies. And then there was Zoe Morgan’s 2019 film, which had a scary 3.1 rating (out of 10) on IMDB.

The new “Budica” (we will call it the same as the distributors) scraped together 4.4 points, but, alas, it is also impossible to call it a worthy tribute to the memory of the fearless Celtic Amazon.

Due to a conspicuous lack of budget, almost all of the film’s action takes place in the scrubby forest that marks what is now Norfolk. The Iceni tribe, led by Prasutagus (Clive Standen), lives here; right there, almost outside the threshold of his royal hut, there is a market, and around the corner Christians are crucified (where would a film about Ancient Rome be without crucified Christians).

All the battles will take place here: from small skirmishes with lost squads of legionnaires to the epic battle in the finale, for which the creators will double the crowd – from 15 people to 30 and even drag a chariot for Budica (Olga Kurylenko).

Until the murder began, Prasutag, Boudica and their daughters (Lityana and Lilibet Butanasev) represent the ideal of healthy family values. In contrast, Emperor Nero (Harry Kirton), sitting in a red loincloth and laurel wreath in some statue-lined room in distant Rome, judging by his manner, does nothing but indulge in debauchery – off-screen. In the frame, he issues a decree that women in his empire are prohibited from occupying any leadership positions, even among the “savages”, which the Romans consider the population of the British Isles.

Therefore, when Prasutagus dies, betrayed by one of his confidants, the evil Roman governor (Nick Moran) takes away Boudica’s lands and all other property, and orders her and her daughters to be flogged. The woman, exhausted by torture, is kidnapped by warriors of the Trinovante tribe, who explain to her that she is the direct heir of the ancient Celtic warrior goddess, and therefore must lead their fight against the Roman occupiers.

So Boudica has to pick up a sword, change her feminine makeup to war paint (the further, the more space the blue paint takes up on her face, without, however, erasing the expression of extreme stunnedness from it), throw a battle cry and go to take revenge on the Romans.

If this film had appeared in the 1980s, during the time of “Conan the Barbarian” (1982), “Conan the Destroyer” (1984) and “Red Sonja” (1985), which it subtly resembles with the general delirium of what is happening, the main role in it Surely some muscular blond beast would have played. They would have stripped her a couple of times (simply because it was beautiful), they would have come up with a love story for her with a sleek warrior-bodybuilder, she would have scattered her enemies with her bare hands, and most importantly, the authors would not be ashamed of the fact that they are filming kitsch with artificial blood, the complete absence of historical accuracy and even just a coherent plot.

Alas, the creators of “Budika” are completely devoid of a sense of humor and cheerful arrogance.

Therefore, the clumsy dialogues they invented, the ridiculously low-budget battle scenes, white socks on Roman centurions and the overabundance of severed body parts in the frame are much more difficult to endure.