The score for "The Last Legion" offers a hope for greatness with Patrick Doyle's involvement. Highly regarded within the business and by fans, Mr. Doyle has a great track record and quite often does excellent work. This time, "The Last Legion" doesn't meet the standards I had wished for and had come to expect.

Seemingly, "The Last Legion" and Doyle should have been a match made in heaven. With Doyle's excellence working on period pieces and Legion's storyline about ancient Rome, this one was set up on a tee for him. Instead, there is a pedestrian feel to the entire soundtrack.

Before I start sounding too negative about this work, I must mention up front that there is nothing glaringly bad about the score. It plays well, it hits all of the scripted notes and it offers a recognizable main theme. The problem lies in the depth and the lack of heart behind the music. It felt as though I was listening to musical pieces that were going through the motions, failing to connect on any mythic or emotional level. Whether this is because the film itself is poor or the time in which to create the score was limited, I do not know, but I was never brought into the world of "The Last Legion" from the music alone.

The main theme is often used during the soundtrack and it's a very basic one. To be honest, it felt as though it was half a theme and one that certainly falls short of Doyle's talent level. What makes matters worse is that the theme is called upon throughout the score (much like Eragon) and becomes more of a hindrance than a valued addition. There is also a void of the unique sounds that the era of Rome could have been represented with in the score. I didn't get any sense of being transported back in time with this.

The battle music in 'Legion' is solid and can be viewed as the bright spots of the soundtrack. Again, a bit of repetition does set in as the action cues begin to repeat statements from the early portions of the score.

In the end, "The Last Legion" is a disappointment in a musical sense. I have a feeling the film will be maligned as well, however, I was hoping to hear Doyle unload a grand score that could have lived on despite the movie. Truthfully, if you want to hear music that is more involving and pays better attention to the style of the era, I would recommend checking out the score for HBO's series, "Rome" because "The Last Legion" is largely forgettable.