Samstag, 4. Oktober 2014

NORTHMEN - Movie Review

Title: Northmen - A Viking Saga
Running Time: 97 min
Director: Claudio Fäh
Starring:  Tom Hopper, Ryan Kwanten, Charlie Murphey, Ed Skrein, Anatole Taubman, Ken Duken, Darrel D'Silva, James Norton, Johan Hegg

Review:
It's not every day, that Switzerland, Germany and Southafrica team-up to make an English language film about Vikings, which is including a british rapper and the lead singer of a swedish death-metal band in its cast. Therefore, no one quite knew what to expect from this tale of stranded warriors, who find themseleves in enemy territory: The Scottish Highlands.
"Northmen - A Viking Saga" really isn't a masterpiece, but entertaining nonetheless. For a movie produced by such relatively small studios, the film is actually pretty good looking. Strong contrasts, impressive landscapes, bad ass villain costumes and some inventive fight scenes are a lot of fun to watch and give this movie a bigger feel. The actors are all doing fine, most notably: Ed Skrein. This former "Game of Thrones" actor shows us that he can put on a game face and throw a hard punch, which is good to see since he'll take over the wheel for Jason Statham in the upcoming "The Transporter Legacy".
What this film suffers from, however, is its pretty generic plot. You'll find your typical group dynamics: the young leader, who has the responsibility to make the tough calls; a rude douche, who doubts the leaders decisions; that boyish, yet ambitious character; a loyal fighter; an older nice guy; the comic-relief-guy; an ally made along the way who might-or-might-not-be trustworthy; and of course the beautiful but feisty captured princess, who's character development needs no explanation.
Further, the writers must have taken some drug that kicks in very slowly while conceiving this script, because the movie starts off quite serious, but, especially towards the very end, gets a bit crazy when it comes to the mortality of their characters. Also, the fact that people seem to be just as fast as horses, and that the bad guy army varies in size however it is convenient to the plot, strips off this film's gravitas.
In the end, "Northmen - A Viking Saga" is an action adventure certainly meant with a wink. Definetly not a must-see, but if you ever come across it, you probably won't regret it.


For Fans Of:
Vikings (2013 - TV Series)
Solomon Kane (2009)
10.000 B.C. (2008)
Season of the Witch (2011)

Click Here To Watch Trailer!

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