The Northman movie review - Aussieboyreviews
DOES THE VENGEANCE THEME IN THE NORTHMAN PROMISE LOTS OF ROUGH VIKING BATTLE?
Directed by the talented Robert Eggers, this viking tale about revenge is violent, engaging but overlong. The Northman is a reasonably watchable action-drama with lots of battle.
Storyline
Years after young Prince Amleth’s father is murdered by his uncle and his mother is abducted, he is now a viking who sets out on a quest to fulfil his vow — save his mother, kill his uncle and avenge his father.
Movie Images
Movie details
Director: Robert Eggers
Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, Björk, Gustav Lindh
Writer: Sjón, Robert Eggers
Release Date (Australia): 21 April 2022
Runtime: 137 minutes/2h 17m
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Language: English, Old Norse
CONTENT GUIDE (warning: May contain spoilers)
Thematic content includes revenge, murder, torture, sexual threat, psychotropic drug hallucinations and ritual and battle sequences.
The film contains violence including the use of swords, stabbings and decapitations, accompanied by bloody spurting and wound detail.
The film features several uses of the words “bitch”, “bastard” and “whore”.
Several people are depicted experiencing hallucinations after eating a stew poisoned with magic mushrooms.
The film features male and female buttocks nudity and brief female genital nudity as a woman lifts the front of her dress to reveal she is menstruating.
The film features brief depictions of men and women having sex.
mpaa rating
R (for strong bloody violence, some sexual content and nudity)
Aussie boy's thoughts
Robert Eggers proves himself a talented director in The Northman, a well-created viking tale with vengeful power but a runtime more sluggish than his previous films. In the end, the reason for this movie reaching and sliding over the 2-hour mark is because of the story that’s just stretched out more than a little too far. But while everything’s happening, the anticipations continue building, viking action becomes more violent and it’s done very well.
The Northman features a young viking prince who sets out on a quest to avenge his father’s murder, creating the striking line: “I will avenge you, father. I will save you, mother. I will kill you, Fjölnir”. Director Robert Eggers approaches this film using similar techniques he effectively used in his previous films, The Witch and The Lighthouse. However, he’s probably better at using these methods in the horror genre as he was before. He also brings back some of the actors he worked with in the past, in addition to new ones who stage the characters satisfyingly but not overly greatly.
The historical times this movie sets itself in also feels very on-point as well. There’s a persuasive tone of violence and it’s extremely successful in paying close attention to detail, all among the set, characters and ways everything works. The Northman is unfortunately flawed in the sense that it’s revenge plot is very unhurried and you have to keep waiting. Of course, lots of things happen during these lengthy periods of time, but viewers should note that it’s not specifically engaging for everyone.
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