“Dragon Blade” is a historical epic about the Romans in China. Apparently, it is only in recent years that archaeologists have discovered evidence of the Roman settlements in China. It’s certainly an interesting subject and “Dragon Blade” is an entertaining movie made in the same style as “Kingdom Of Heaven” and “Gladiator”. The movie also has some big names attached to it as it stars Jackie Chan (“Shanghai Noon”, “Chinese Zodiac”) and John Cusack (“2012”, “Better Off Dead”).

In “Dragon Blade”, Huo An (Chan) and his fellow members of the Silk Road Protection are framed for smuggling and sent to help restore the Wild Geese Fortress. A defecting Roman legion arrives seeking refuge from the warmongering Tiberius (Adrien Brody “The Pianist”). If the Silk Road and the more than thirty ethnic nations that use it are to remain free from the Roman Empire, they will need to join forces to thwart Tiberius.

Jackie Chan is really good as Huo Ann. I also really enjoyed the performance from John Cusack as Lucius, who leads the defecting Roman legion. Their interactions are fascinating as their growing friendship is mirrored by the bonding of their men with the Roman legion helping the Wild Geese Fortress’ restoration efforts. The swordfight between the two is also very entertaining. Adrien Brody is okay as Tiberius.

“Dragon Blade” may only loosely be inspired by history but it is nevertheless an enjoyable movie. Some of the large battle sequences are almost as impressive as the ones in “Kingdom Of Heaven” and “Gladiator”. The performances from Chan and Cusack are also very strong. If you like movies about ancient history then definitely check out “Dragon Blade”. I really wish we had more films like this because there is something just so impressive about the scale of historical epics with the costumes, the sets and the spectacular battles.