Ronal the Barbarian

Pixar, Dreamworks animation etc have all done great stuff within the animation genre and especially with 3D animation. Outside of the USA things have been slightly different.

There have been some attempts by France, Spain etc but some have been very disappointing and others have been mediocre at best. Films like Renaissance (2006), Kaena: La prophétie (2003), have been entertaining but usually lacking both in story and technically.

When comes to the Scandinavian countries it is even more rare to see a full length animated feature that actually is just as good as their counterparts.

Ronal Barbaren (2011) seems to be just that movie. Film is about young Ronal who is a weak geek, among tough, hard barbarians (even the women have bigger biceps then him) but must go on dangerous journey in order to save his tribe from the evil Volcazar.

On his quest of course he meets lots of weird individuals, who joins him and in the process helps him to grow as person.

In the bottom of this funny film is a serious coming of age story, aimed mainly at teens who may or may not recognize themselves in young Ronal and his band of misfits.

The most refreshing about this film is the non Disney approach, meaning trying to only suit a massmarket, using bland stereotypes, musical scenes, and predictable story lines.

The directors is not breaking new ground, this film filled with crude adolescent humor, sex jokes and is basically a parody of Lord of the rings, Conan etc but delivers mainly because US productions is very family oriented while this film is mainly directed at teenagers and adults with a very crude sense of humor.

I urge anyone to see this film, you will probably not see anything like it in USA for a long time.

Unless of course Seth McFarlane decides to make a 3D film....

Ronal is the seven stone weakling and the rest of his tribe, the Barbarians, are all built like Arnie. Guess who will be the hero? Ronal the Barbarian is simply one the better kick-back and enjoy it films of the year: rude, sure but not so much that it's gross, violent, not so much actually, and fun - lots and lots of fun.

We just enjoyed this - it's beautifully made, and visually it is really rewarding - nothing skimped here except the clothing for both the men and women - all the men are muscle bound in Borat thongs and all the girls positively pneumatic and Teutonic - however it all fits the style well sure it's gratuitous, but it is not offensive.

The surprise is how good the plot and the script are - the time flies by and there is enough substance here to make this more than watchable.

Above all this is just a kick-back and enjoy it animated adventure that lampoons the Conan genre perfectly while doing so affectionately. The time whizzed by - the voice acting was a notch above - especially when considering this was in Danish and dubbed into English - and overall this would simply be one of the most straight-up enjoyable films of year. Very much recommended if Game of Thrones with lots of laughs and silliness rocks your boat...

....maybe it is more funny when you are Danish!

A simply completely funny movie, have seen it several times.

The movie is ridiculously brutal, sarcastic and at times out right evil. If you enjoy this genre then it is a MUST SEE! If you do not like dark humor - stay out of it. It is really funny, and there are many scenes with violence and gore, sex and embarrassment. It's a parody of "Conan the Barbarian", hence epic one-liners, and overrated macho men and women dominate the storyline. But our four main characters are kind of weak, silly, always horny and not really experienced or skilled with anything (except Zandra). There is a bard who cannot sing, a hero warrior who cannot fight, a guide who always gets lost and the power fighter women who needs to save their asses.

I had a very good laugh all the way through the film and so did the rest of the cinema. It nice that the animation industry has started to make films for not just the young audience. And this is one of the film that would entertain the grown ups, but might not be good for taking the kids along. Its actually funny but its gory and the language is probably not regarded as suitable for kids. The film is a spin-off joke on the classic Conan the Babarian with a bit of Lord of the Rings added to it. And that might call for one-liners and jokes about about stereotypes of that universe, narcissism, gore violence, mysticism etc. And that works really well. But there is more to the quality of the film than just that. I think the film was generally really well made. Very nice camera work, lay out, cutting and the pace of the film worked well. It is good craftsmanship. Taking a spin on the classic story we have a hero who seems nothing like a hero. And an odd gang. Obviously they have to go on a quest, just like Conan had to. The story is in that sense classic, but at the same time it has lots of clever and dumb comments to the genre. And it really worked for me. I laughed a lot.