El hombre del norte

Young director Robert Eggers is back at it again with his most recent take on a movie based around vikings, now first of all I have to give full credit to the film when it comes to capturing the brutality of vikings because it is done spectacularly. The film itself is entertaining and the cast delivers great performances all around, this role shows that Alexander Skarsgård has what it takes to be a top tier dramatic actor as he arguably delivers a career-high performance.

Now for people contemplating whether or not they should see the film because Eggers' films so far have been "too artsy" and "not for the general audience" should put their worries aside and purchase their tickets because there isn't much to worry about even though there will be many classic Eggers shots he is typically known for.

As for the small negatives about the film; I felt disappointed in how little we got of Dafoe as he often shines with these types of directors. I do also have to say that the movie isn't exactly how it is shown in the trailers (less action in the final product), some people claim the trailers are superior and even though I enjoyed my time in the cinema I slightly agree with those claims.

If you expect a Gladiator type movie with the depth it comes with, you will be have a disappointing experience, like my wife who rated it a 1/5.

If you expect a gory viking slaughterfest with mythical elements, you will be very happy like me and rate it higher. I honestly did not know what I was in for which made me glad I watched it.

I guess it helps if you like violent gory movies. I suspect my wife only wanted to see a trimmed Alexander without his shirt on and she got that, even though he was mostly covered in guts and blood =)

Some fight scenes are exceptionally nice shot without cuts which makes me wonder if they really did shoot it in one take or used movie trickery. I don't really care as it was impressive.

Did it leave a lasting impression? No, not really. Well worth the movie ticket for me in any case.

But yeah. Not much depth to it IMO.

This is without a doubt the most Heavy Metal movie since Mad Max: Fury Road. I'm gonna crank up some Amon Amarth later.

Robert Eggers is one of the most exciting and original directors out right now. The Northman is his third full-length film and it just might be my favorite. The Northman is a classic revenge tale (very reminiscent of both Conan The Barbarian and Gladiator) that becomes elevated due to its incredible visuals, uncompromising brutality, fantastic performances, stunning musical score, and authentic depictions of Norse Mythology and Viking history.

Although this is probably Eggers's most accessible film (at least in comparison to both The Witch and The Lighthouse) that hardly makes it accessible to most mainstream audiences, which is probably why this film tanked at the box office. But if you love amazing visuals with brutal action sequences and compelling performances, then odds are you're gonna dig The Northman. Its story and themes may not be the most original, but because this film is so technically flawless, the experience that you get in return is well worthwhile.

Also, it is absolutely criminal that this movie didn't get any Oscar nominations, ESPECIALLY for best cinematography. I guess this movie was just too metal for the academy voters.

This film looks good, sounds good, has the actors to be good, but dissappoints.

Another film that is all about clips that look really good but on watching, it is difficult to feel any real interest in the story coz it is so rambling and jumps about..

Other aspects are just unbelievable, nonsense battle scenes etc.

This obviously was made with a lavish budget, visually it looks great, but it doesn't make up for the lacking of story. I couldn't help but compare this to 'The 13th Warrior' which does have a good story (similar era)

The music, if that's what you call it, quickly began to get on my nerves with the constant 'dirge'.

Another irritance was the weird variable accents, sometimes Scottish, bit of Irish, inconsistant mish mash.

I kept waiting for it to get interesting, but it never did 6/10 just for visuals.

The first thirty minutes are extremely bad. Terrible acting, in particular the son. Even Nicole Kidman is bad. I do not know how anyone keeps watching after that awful start. The hero dad survives everything of course and keeps on giving marvellous speeches. The savages rape and pillage the village, but our hero is troubled by it, but does not do anything to stop it. Yawn. Now give us some more dramatic score and a witch with a terrible accent to make up for it, maybe? The accents kill me. Did they speak English with an accent back then - I did not know. OMG I really did not last more than 40 minutes. Not sure how many bots were needed to push this up to 7 on imdb. Avoid at all cost.