17th Century Europe, Spain is one of the biggest super powers of the day and is expanding its territory. On the Flanders Frontier the great swordsman Diego 'Captain' Alatriste (Viggo Mortenson) fights for the spaniards. One day he is called to assassinate two mysterious travellers but instead spares their lives. This decision will lead Alatriste's life down a tragic path, winding between assassins in the alleys of spain, musket shots on the front lines and all the while he must stay alive and protect the son of his fallen comrade Inigo Balboa (Unax Ugalde).
This was one of the last films in which Bob Anderson, the swordsmanship instructor from film like Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, let his extensive skill so as one can expect the swashbuckling duels in the streets of Madrid are a spectacle to behold. These streets are captured with eerily haunting cinematography, lending to the feeling of dark secrecy that pervades the story. And Mortensen's acting is phenomenal especially since the whole film is in Spanish and Mortensen's 1st language is in English.
That being said, it is hard to say Captain Alatriste is a great film. The story drags on a bit and the narrative skips over large parts of time, leaving it up to the audience to guess what is going on. And these moments are never properly explained and the result is that the audience feels left out. And as with other films of its genre, without further research before hand it is hard to know how the story fits into history. Although Mortensen's acting is top quality, the same can barely be said of the rest of the cast, with the possible exception of Ugalde, who does a very good job of being a 'wanna-be' hero.
However it is worth watching Captain Alatrsite purely for the mesmerising sword fighting and Mortenson's performance, but otherwise brace yourselves for a long story.
