"Northmen: A Viking Saga" does offer some good, solid entertainment. And it is a movie that appeals mostly to a male audience. And chances are that if you like the "Vikings" series, then you would also find enjoyment in "Northmen: A Viking Saga".
However, the story, albeit straight forward and very simplistic, offers very little in terms of layering a profound movie experience. Why? Well, because the storyline was just too simple, truth be told. The movie is about a group of marooned vikings washed ashore and having to get from point A to point B in order to reach a safe haven. And the path between points A and B is a perilous one, of course.
What works very well in the movie is the fighting and action sequences, as they are nicely choreographed and equally nicely executed on the screen. But also the costumes and outfits were working well in favor of the movie, because they had a very authentic feel to them. And the environment where the movie was filmed also added a great deal of enjoyment to the movie.
The characters in the movie were nicely detailed, although most of them were very generic in terms of what has previously been seen in the viking movie genre. That being said, don't get me wrong, because the people cast to portray the characters did good jobs with their characters, despite not having the most elaborate of scripts to work with. And while the soothsayer character was indeed interesting, it just seemed a bit out of place, with those supernatural powers, as it turned the movie into a fantasy movie, and not really adhering to the reality of the age in which the movie was taking place. A good or bad thing? Well, I did enjoy it, as it was nicely done. But had they opted for something else, then the movie would have had a whole other atmosphere to it. And also the monk character was somewhat of a sore thumb, especially since he was apparently so much more martially trained than everyone else. It just seemed a bit out of place.
"Northmen: A Viking Saga" is an enjoyable movie for sure. Just don't expect anything extraordinary. And while it is not fully up to the level of the "Vikings" series, then it is still a good addition to the viking movie genre.
