Director: Robert Eggers
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe
Movie Length: 2 hours 17 minutes
What it is: The latest movie directed by visionary director Robert Eggers (who directed The Lighthouse, and The Witch) based on the the medieval Scandinavian legend of Amleth (who inspired the Hamlet character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet). The main character in the movie is played by Skarsgård who is seeking revenge for the murder of his father by his uncle.
What Dan thought: I went into the movie not knowing anything about the plot and having not watched the trailer. What I saw was an incredible epic movie that slightly delved into Norse mythology while telling a great tale of revenge.
The visuals that Eggers set up in some scenes were gorgeous (and trippy also, you’ll see what I mean when you see the movie). The fact they filmed some of the movie in Iceland (where some of the story actually took place) led to great scenery and made the movie feel more authentic. Part of the credit for that has to go to Jarin Blaschke who worked with Eggers on both The Witch, and The Lighthouse.
The cast itself were terrific in all aspects, with Skarsgård wonderfully playing the bulked up hero of the movie and the always awesome Taylor-Joy playing the female lead. Claes Bang’s role as the antagonist made you want to hate him (which is always the sign of a good role for an actor.
While Kidman, Hawke, Björk, and Dafoe may have gotten their names under the starring line, their roles were small in comparison to Skarsgård, Bang, and Taylor-Joy’s screen time but that doesn’t mean they didn’t do well. Their roles were very important in the movie, and all were terrific (with the standout being the facial expressions that Dafoe’s Heimir the Fool had…the man can play crazy like no one else).
Part of a good epic movie is always the score, and this one was perfect. I didn’t see it in a theater with a Dolby system but I highly recommend you do for the music.
If you get queasy at the sight of bloody battles (this is a Viking epic after all) you may want to skip this one. The battle scenes are well done, but very bloody and involve some grisly deaths.
Dan’s grade: A. If you want a good, epic revenge movie with some great battle scenes, this is the movie for you.
The Northman will be released theatrically in the United States on April 22nd.
Are you going watch the movie? Have you already? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Twitter at @TheConCollectve!
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