386. Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans

HORRIBLE HISTORIES - ROTTEN ROMANS
Cert PG
92 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mild comic violence, injury detail, rude humour, language

The Horrible Histories series of books are great and were a key part of our children's entertainment and knowledge expansion.
Who knows, they may have even been part of the inspiration for both of them to study history at A level.
Anyway, those books which were written by Terry Deary and illustrated by Martin Brown were the springboard for TV series, theatre productions, exhibitions, video games and now a movie.
Dominic Brigstocke's Rotten Romans picks up the style of the franchise with comedy and song helping the understanding of a key moment in time.
It stars Sebastian Croft as Atti - a young Roman who is banished to join a legion of soldiers in faraway Britain.
There, he is kidnapped by the Celts in the shape of a feisty young girl (Emilia Jones) who, despite the misgivings of her father (Nick Frost) has ambitions to be a warrior.

Meanwhile, back in Rome, the newly crowd Emperor Nero (Craig Roberts) demands the defeat of the Celtic queen Boudicca (Kate Nash) while fending off the political advances of his mother (Kim Cattrall).
The likes of Alexander Armstrong, Lee Mack, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Warwick Davis and Derek Jacobi contribute cameos to add to the fun.
Brigstocke's film has the feel of an extended version of a CBBC show and is deliberately almost amateurish because it seeks to be accessible to young people.
However, it does throw in the odd joke aimed at adults, presumably to ensure that they continue to pay attention.
Its jokes are corny and its songs are folksy and easygoing. Indeed, it gives the impression of being cooked up by a theatre crew.
But, in my view, it knows its target audience and I would imagine the under-10s being entertained and their guardians finding it perfectly fine.


Reasons to watch: Good way of making history entertaining to young children
Reasons to avoid: Maybe a little too simplistic at times

Laughs: None for me but I'm not a kid
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? Celts were not indigenous Britons - they controlled most of central Europe and by 700BC, conquered the lands of Northern Spain and were a force in Britain by 480BC. Celtic tribes continued to migrate to Britain and to dominate the country. 

Final word. Sebastian Croft. "I was a big Horrible Histories fan. I’m very dyslexic and they were the only books that I really enjoyed reading. Because they’re such fun and engaging books you learn without realising it."

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