The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King

First off, I have to say I watched this dubbed into English and I'm not sure how much of this movie gets lost in translation. I got the feeling there were some jokes and play-on-words that got lost. There are also a few references that likely make more sense in their native country.

As for the review, I thought the movie was quite enjoyable overall. Fairy tale stories are a hard sale though. The movie included too many tropes and too many fairy tales, all mushed together. If you go in just wanting to have an escapist viewing, then this won't be a signficant con for the movie. If this is something that really would nag at you, then best not view it.

I think one problem for the movie is the target audience. There are a number of rather disturbing/fightening scenes, that might make it inappropriate for younger viewers. However the overall tone is the kind of whimsical folksiness that appeals to children, and might turn off the teenage crowd.

I would file this one in the check-your-expectations at the door, sit back and relax kind of movie. Don't expect much, and you'll have fun with it.

I started watching this film assuming I'd move on to something else but was drawn in by the beautiful and unusual scenery (I'm not familiar with the landscape of Norway). The storyline wasn't especially original but contained enough elements of the "modern fantasy film" and a traditional fairy tale to be interesting. Modern elements included anachronistic dialogue and injections of somewhat juvenile humor. The traditional fairy tale elements included episodic encounters with supernatural beings and a series of seemingly useless items picked up by the main character that later come in handy. (There was one item I'd totally forgotten about until came into play at the end of the film in an important way.) I also liked how the brothers ended up working together to accomplish their mission and learned to see their seeming incompetent brother in a different light. The film isn't perfect of course. Some of the dialogue seemed a bit clunky (but I was watching a dubbed version....I have a feeling the dialogue worked better in Norwegian.) The special effects are not bad (though not as slick as some American films) and don't distract. Overall, enjoyable.

Don't know why there are some really awful reviews or attacks on people who liked it. It's definitely not Lord of the Rings but you know that going in. It's a good little story that's well worth watching. I could see us watching it again sometime. It's clean fantasy for the family.

I suprisingly enjoyed this movie. Dubbed but good. Cheesy a bit funny and not too serious. Brilliant landscape and pretty Scandinavian woman and good directing.

I've gone to the movies with my kids countless times to see children and family movies... fortunately this time it was something else. Our movie experience was great this time, the scenes are beautiful, the movie is funny at times and a little scary at times... bust most importantly, it kept us entertained from start to the end, and that is a very rare thing when this family goes to the movies :) I get easily bored at almost all children/family movies and unfortunately, so do the kids, as more or less all movies have a "downtime" that make them restless and sometimes even wanting to go home. Askeladden kept us at the edge of our seats the whole time, which is a very... very rare thing... well done! :)