The Eagle, a tale of moody, muscled men and unflinching patriotism, is a rehash of an old yarn: A man whose honor has been scorned must embark on a long and difficult journey to regain what he has lost. It is a valiant attempt at an epic adventure, but it doesn't fully take advantage of characters that could really give energy to the plot. The Eagle has its moments, but on the whole it is a story that can't seem to find its legs; and when it does, it drags its feet throughout.The hero of this story is the single-minded young general Marcus Aquila, whose father lost the Golden Eagle, the emblem of the Roman legion, and 5,000 troops in northern Great Britain. Played by the always-hunky Channing Tatum, Aquila is never anything but stoic during his journey through the wilds of Britain to find and retrieve the Eagle.

Even when wracked with pain, his handsomely puckered visage never wavers in expression. Though his facial chops might need work, his physical scenes, per usual, are impressive. The film really slimmed down on visual effects and instead sticks to classic sword-and-shield fights, keeping the action realistic.

Aquila's journey is almost cut off from the start-he is cripplingly injured and relieved from his position as head of the Roman legion. He is taken in by his uncle, played by the screen legend Donald Sutherland, who takes him to a gladiator-slave battle to cheer up the brooding young warrior. Aquila is immediately moved by the slave's resolute determination to stay valiant in the face of death and persuades the crowd to spare the slave's life. Aquila's uncle buys the slave for him as a gift. The slave, named Esca, is actually the former prince of one of the many wild British tribes that roamed Britain before the Romans' invasion. Esca, played by rising star Jamie Bell, is easily the more interesting character of the manly duo. He is conflicted: though his entire tribe has been killed by the Romans, he is still bound to an honor code that forces him to stay with Aquila throughout the journey. Though he seems to have a much darker and more interesting past than Aquila, the amount of screen time allotted for the wiry and intense Esca is disappointing. Equally a letdown was the amount of time devoted to one of the more interesting characters of the film, the Seal Prince, played by French actor Tahar Rahim. The actor's mastery of language is impressive: in addition to speaking French, Corsican and Arabic, he also learned Gaelic for his role in the movie. Unfortunately, his potentially powerful part is boiled down to the stereotypical role of the big bad violent guy.

One notable aspect of The Eagle is its sweeping backdrops. The film was shot in both Great Britain and Hungary, and the natural attributes of the land create a beautiful and lonely scene in which the two heroes can brood.

Even though there are some nice moments in The Eagle, most of the film is a tease. It starts to build up to an interesting revelation about a character's hidden past but then says too little to be satisfying. Other times, when the scene calls for more-intense acting, the performers don't fully deliver. And Tatum is shirtless for only a few tantalizing seconds.

The movie is not even 2 hours long, but it seems like it goes on forever. Though the characters in the movie must go through what feels like an endless slog, the director should make sure that the audience does not feel the same about his film.