81 I The Northman is about fury. How a boy becomes a man. How a man becomes a beast. A beast that can tear his prey apart like slaughtered sheep. A man who was born because of anger about his dead father. He promises his motherland he will avenge, save and kill. He is the one who decides on someone's faith. A noble prince with a rage. When you hear the howl of the wolves in the middle of the night, His rage comes to that land.
Alexander Skarsgård is a fantastic actor. His performance in Big Little Lies grabbed everyone's attention. Then he surprisingly played a character in Succession. Plus The Northman, he becomes an unbeatable actor. How his body movement and expression show the furiousness of a man. The moments when his character, Amleth attacked a village is the best performance of his in The Northman.
Alexander Skarsgård is certainly not the only one who has great performances in this film. Let's mention Ethan Hawke, Claes Bang, Willem Dafoe, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Nicole Kidman. They all killing the scene. Just a fun fact, Alexander Skarsgård, and Nicole Kidman had their performance together as husband and wife in Big Little Lies. That is why when we realized it, it felt a little weird watching their interaction in this film.
Robert Eggers is a very consistent director so far. After The Witch, The Lighthouse, and now The Northman, He truly can show the world his capability of directing. He is a rare talent in this modern cinema. He has his signature style in the way he directs his films. If you are familiar with his works, all his feature-length film has a similar tone. An old tale of an old historical story that is visualized in a dark tone. Every film he directs has great characters. He is a pure legend.
But unfortunately, The Northman is not appreciated by a general audience. Because of bad marketing and losing the competition with blockbuster films, its profit is not that great. A film that prioritizes art elements is often hard to accept by general audiences who seek entertainment only. We could not blame the people because every one of us has our reason when watching a film. That is why a director like Robbert Eggers should be respected because he still makes a film with his style without being attached to the popular film format.
We should also mention how great the cinematography is in this film. Almost every shots have a strong message for the sake of the story. It also helped us to feel the atmosphere of the old Nordic time. We could see how different the culture and the way they behave in this film if we compared it with modern-day people. Even to this day our civilization still has primitive tribes, it is different compared to The Northman which is complete madness. Just knowing the fact back in the day people act like that is incredible to think about.
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Rating: 80.38
Plot
P1: 1.5
P2: 1.0
P3: 1.8
P4: 1.8
Director: Robert Eggers
Favorite Characters
1.7: Amleth
1.5: Queen Gudrún
1.4: King Aurvandil War-Raven
1.3: Olga of the Birch Forest
1.2: Fjölnir The Brotherless
1.0: Thórir The Proud
Character Score Meaning
0.0 - 0.1 - 0.2 - 0.3 - 0.4 : Terrible
0.5 - 0.6 - 0.7 - 0.8 : Bad
0.9 - 1.0 - 1.1 - 1.2 : Average
1.3 - 1.4 - 1.5 - 1.6 : Good
1.7 - 1.8 - 1.9 - 2.0 : Great
This movie is metal as fuck.
I thought this movie was amazing, if a little obscure for mainstream viewers. Its plot is essentially that of The Lion King (which is itself a retelling of Hamlet), but done with a violence that is breathtaking. So much attention was paid to the details of costumes, music, and set pieces! The mythology is genuine, and extremely satisfying. I wasn't actually expecting a couple of the plot twists, or the ending, which I think means the writers did a good job. If you enjoyed Game of Thrones or Vikings (I haven't watched the latter myself), you'll probably like this. It's also not a happy movie; the settings and events are bleak, for the most part, but sometimes that's what a movie needs to be. Absolutely worth a watch.
This is one hell of a creative vision. My rating isn't based on pure enjoyment or entertainment that I had throughout, but rather what I expect will be a rather lasting effect. It's unique, it's meditative and it can be visceral too. 7.7 for me. Well done.
Sloooow moving, over long, a good story that could have been told a lot quicker to keep the pace going. :thinking:
A captivating film, with intense, bloody action sequences, elevated by the great sound design,impeccable direction, stunning visuals, amazing cinematography and great performances.
Best superhero movie of the year.
Not what I expected, but an excellent movie. It embraces the brutality of the story that it wants to show, and does not shy away from it. There is no fairy tale here, and that's for the best. I did expect a bit more action after the trailer, and Nicole looked out of place in some scenes, but overall that does not take away much from the movie.
Not your normal action flick but I eventually enjoyed watching it exactly for that : it's something different (like contemporary art)
Nikole Kidman acting was really awful here ; all others were spot on.
Very nice settings and landscapes (it was actually filmed in Ireland)
To take a storyline this simple on paper and making it so grand and visually appealing makes this one of the better “paper to screen” watches in the recent times. You can pause at moments, take a screen grab and frame it and no one would think that is not a painting. What beautiful imageries have some of the moments conveyed!
The background score really manages to keep you in the moments - giving that thrilling feel which does make you glue that seat without wanting to blink an eye to ensure you do not miss something in seconds.
Overall, it is a slow burn which does not leave a bitter aftertaste for sure. It takes its own sweet time to conclude and the visuals are bound to stay with you.
One key issue and that might be a factor of the time period but how come women do not become a part of the family tree! It’s as preposterous to see it as it sounds.
Men literally want one thing and it’s to be led by valkyries to Valhalla
Coincidence that Alexander Skarsgård — aka. Eric Northman — stars in this movie? I think not!
I really wanted to love this movie, but it just didn't do it for me. There are a few great moments here, and the performances are undoubtedly very good. Lots of great shots, and I like the idea of what Eggers was going for. But in the end, it just felt... lacking. I liked the brutality and the often historically accurate feel of the movie at times, but even the best of the action sequences just didn't really do it for me. I feel as though the movie could easily have been 20 minutes shorter - I say this as someone who loves long movies, and I'm always more than happy to sit through even longer films than this one, but The Northman simply felt as though it was lacking in substance to justify the runtime. It certainly wasn't a bad movie, but no matter how much I tried to love it, I couldn't. If I had watched it on a small screen at home, I'd probably be giving it an even lower rating, but as it stands, I did think it was a decent cinema experience, and it certainly wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon.
I really don’t get how this is so highly rated. Found it quite boring and there is basically no character development. Based on what is probably a great ancient poem but they tried to half incorporate that kind of style so it just felt like … a cheap version of a Shakespeare play. Some shots were great but at the same time completely irrelevant and just made the movie unbearably long. Also: way too much random shouting RROOOAAARRRR UUUAAHHH GGRRRR OOUUUUUUUU :sweat_smile:
"I will avenge you, Father! I will save you, Mother! I will kill you, Fjölnir!"
Even though the Northman felt a little bit long it never bored me. The soundtrack, the visuals, Alexander Skarsgård performance as Amleth, Willem Dafoe is always a treat, the final fight near all the lava and I just love the viking mythology.
Robert Eggers third film is another unique one and I just can't wait see what he has in store next. The Northman also showed me that I would like to see Alexander Skarsgård in more films. But I also realize if I would've watched this with some friends they won't think of it as highly as I do. I think the Northman is more a film for people who are really into movies.
Maybe it could be one that offers them another experience and show them what movies can be. Maybe that will be an idea for when I get this on blu-ray. Watch it with some friends who usually watch Marvel or big action blockbusters and ask them what they think of it. I wonder...
If you're expecting two hours of battle action you will be very disappointed, but honestly if you've seen any other Robert Eggers movie by now you should have known better than to expect this. But, of course this may be the first movie you'll be watching from Eggers, so in any case be prepared for a slow ride. For me, one of the best aspects of the movie was how well Eggers handed the "magic" aspect, it almost becomes pure fantasy at times, to immerse the watcher in the beliefs of the norse myhology the people had at that time, but you could also think of them as products of an active unconsciuos fuled by psychotics sometimes, or by the simple belief in that mithology. The script being not only about revenge was a bonus for me.
"The Northman" is very impressive, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's especially good. It's visceral. It may be very very historically accurate, by today's lights. The battle choreography is estimable, shot in long takes with little editing. A number of excellent actors do a lot of really fine work in the parts that have words. The vistas are dark, suggestive, beautifully filmed. It has all that in its favor.
"The Northman" is also Very Serious. It is Very Very Serious. It's SO VERY Serious. There is not a moment of levity or self-awareness anywhere, ever. By the time someone in our audience finally giggled, because you have to sooner or later, it's all so completely preposterous, we all fell deathly silent. Was this the moment when the mood would be finally, ruinously broken? And it wasn't, though it was close - there really is too much about this that works to let it all fall apart completely.
In that moment, though, I realized that I had been willing myself to stay locked in for a while, trying to ignore the fact that this movie had derailed long since, about when it went from being a low-tech muddy "Dune" kind of thing and went over into "Hannibal" territory. In other words, I had been doing the hard disruptive work of pretending that this was Serious, Quality Stuff. But no, people, no. That's the movie's job, not mine. The movie should be giving me a terrific and unexpected ride, not asking me to push it uphill. If I have to sit there and hope that it doesn't shatter completely into pieces, it's already a loss. I'm not here to eat my spinach because it's good for me. I want to watch someone's brilliant work, not sustain it.
When we eventually reached the final showdown, in which two naked men scream incoherently and batter one another with swords and shields on the shadowy fiery skirts of an active flowing volcano, I was long past caring. My personal movie had ended an easy 20 minutes earlier. I'm not kidding about screaming incoherently either - there is no dialogue. It just goes, "AAAAAHHHH!" smash "RRYYAAARGH!" smash "WRRRHYYOOOOGHHHH!" smash, for like ten minutes. Or maybe it's five. Or three. Whatever. I thought it would never end.
There really is a lot of good stuff that works in "The Northman," and maybe one day when I'm home with a good beverage and a comfy chair I'll watch some of it again to look at Robert Eggers' layouts and some of the marvelous and unexpected performances. Maybe. Until then, what the movie mostly did was remind me, over and over and over again, just how amazing "The Green Knight" really was.
A gory, mystical, action-packed Viking epic directed by the creator of The Lighthouse — can fantasy ever get any better?
I hope this is not another bad movie with a really good trailer.
Update: The trailer suggested more action, while in reality, the movie is an epic period piece. The Northman depicts the journey of a prince and his thirst for vengeance. It leans heavily into Norse pagan rituals. Robert Eggers has done something similar in The Witch, another period piece, but more of a horror movie with pagan rituals leading to all sorts of disasters. The visual style and storytelling is quite similar and Eggers is further refining his style as a director. The Northman is definitely worth the watch!
It's has a simple story, easy to follow. There's action. Great actors. Technically wonderful. How did this flop? What more do you people want?!
It took me a little while to get into it, but by its conclusion 'The Northman' had fully entertained me. Great film!
First and foremost, I'm delighted that I did indeed enjoy this film as my only previous experience of director Robert Eggers was the - in my opinion, and apparently my opinion only! - severely unsatisfying 'The Lighthouse'. It's unmistakable that this 2022 flick is made by the same person, but happily the outcome is far greater.
The cast are top notch. Alexander Skarsgård and Anya Taylor-Joy are the two standouts, the latter of which is doing big things lately; she is excellent in the most recent season of television show 'Peaky Blinders', fwiw. Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke and Nicole Kidman are all very good. Willem Dafoe too, naturally.
The story is super absorbing, even early on when I was a tad unsure I was still very invested in what was happening onscreen. The dialogue is a big reason for that, as is the thumping score. At times it can feel like it might become too talky and full of itself in regards to its own mythology and all that, though thankfully it never strays into those realms. It also delivers plenty of action, alongside some good ol' violence as well - the ending is quality in that regard, among other reasons too.
Go watch!
By minute 40, I was totally unimpressed. By the 1hour mark, I felt completely insulted by the simple story elements that are substituted for plot and absolute lack of character development.
My wife was stoked to watch it after enjoying Vikings and The Last Kingdom, but she didn't even make it to the halfway point before she took off her glasses and literally curled up into fetal position and slept through the rest.
There are an inordinate number of gratuitously explicit scenes that are heavy-handed and miss rhe point.
Kidman's face, like many other actresses' her age, show all the mask-like evidence of too muck botox and cosmetic surgery forcing her to overact and scream in order to show any emotion.
There was a lot oh hype for this movie, but like so many other blockbusters, I wish they had spent some of the advertising budget on the front end and wrote a proper script.
Not an easy watch and not as good as I thought it would be. It had plenty of memorable moments, but I found it too long and unsatisfying for me. 6/10
The movie is beautiful and has some over the board performances highlighted by the time frames in which it occurs. Anyone saying this deserves less than a 7 is crazy, 8 would be the correct thing but I'm only leaving a 9 because it's already at 71% when it should have a higher rating.
Too long. It's a movie that begs for a tight 90 minutes and instead it's 130. All the stuff and visuals is cool, but the pacing dragged.
Men will literally slaughter a small farm instead of going to therapy.
Barely worth the time. The only thing that kept me watching was the scenery and, to some extent, the music.
The story was awful, the dialog was awful, the acting was barely adequate, and the star actors were completely wasted.
The director is supposedly a visionary but I'm not sure of what. I'm pretty sure if I see his name on another movie, I'll take a hard pass!
I went into it hoping and expecting much better. As it went on, it got worse and worse. And, at 2 hours and 17 minutes, it had a lot of time to get worse. It was easily 45 to 60 minutes longer then it needed to be.
All in all, mostly a waste of time. Only the scenery and music brought The Northman to a 5 out of 10.
"Remember for whom you shed your last teardrop."
For anyone going into this expecting a "Gladiator"... you will be surprised. This felt more like an actual tale than a regular film and it is beautiful. There are moments that were horrifying, moments that were heavy, and moments that were just straight up weird. And I loved them all.
Brutal, gore, mysticism and revenge. The best I've seen in this 2022!
Only if you really like Norse mythology. I have to admit that when I started watching it I didn't have so many expectations but as the story unfolds it gets even more interesting. It is a movie to sit down and really watch.
It's just another revenge story
Movie was the definition of mid
Wasn't bad, wasn't great.. Just watchable
And it was way to long for what it was trying to deliver
I honestly was excited to watch this movie and had my hopes up so maybe that's why it wasn't that great to me with such expectations
Anyways not regretting the time
This movie is quite overrated. You’re much better off watching the first few seasons of Vikings. A much better told story, much more intriguing characters, and it’s what started off this whole Viking trend.
Mediocre. The plot yields no engagement at all and it is quite predictable, the scenography seems too modern, and the overall setting too generic. And, often, at least on the big screen, the CGI is very noticeable. Overall, it does not leave anything, in spite of the unexplainable enthusiastic reviews by the critics.
This was fantastic, kept me hooked all throughout. It's extremely fun, violent and the acting is outstanding. If you are a big fan of Vikings or Norse Mythology definitely give this a go!! 10/10
This show is total garbage. I couldn't even reach half of it. The scene when the king barks and his son is forced to fart as a form of ritual makes this show so dumb.
don't bother, just watch Conan the Barbarian
Blah, wish I hadn't spent the time watching this. Really weird demented parts that don't fit the overall tone of the movie. Lots of parts where I'm thinking 'why would they do that? It makes no sense.' Various things that weren't explained enough to make sense.
Well it was interesting not what I expected. Great acting and great scenery the story was ok. Was expecting a bit more Viking vibe from the series on Netflix but it felt odd. It's a long movie they could've done it in less time. As always Ana Taylor Joy doesn't disappoint also great to see Alexander again
Everything was well done. But the story was just not for me, felt that id already seen the vengeance story in other guises, and would have liked a different take.
But then again it delivers what the trailer promised so I shouldnt complain.
I'm left flabbergasted as to why Reddit recommended this as a must-watch. They're usually slightly more discerning than the average brain-off popcorn-stuffing movie watcher. This film was ok, but not great. I was torn between 6 or 7 as the final score and decided to be generous with the 7.
The first 30-45 minutes consisted of a bland and boring, generic revenge plot done a million times before. It eventually shifts gears and gets slightly better, but this nearly 2.5 hour movie could have been 2 hours without the sleep-inducing introduction.
The cinematography was the only standout quality, and there were a number of visually stunning shots. The aforementioned popcorn-suffers will probably enjoy this one quite a bit. If you care about plot and character development, this ain't it chief.
Prepare yourself for a number of eye rolls as the big reveals and epic conclusion fall completely flat. Or, do like the rest of the people on here who rated this 9-10 and play games on your cell phone or scroll social media while occasionally glancing at the screen and going "oooooh woooow".
TLDR: This is what happens when you give a bad writer a huge budget and a good director.
[6.6/10] The Northman is nice to look at. Director Robert Eggers and his team still know how to make a historical setting shine in its splendor, repel in its bleakness, or engross with demonic imagery. The film doubles as a tourism video for the Icelandic and Irish locales where it was shot, full of scenic beauty and stunning landscapes draped in verdant wonder or frozen stillness.
Eggers and his collaborators also still know how to shoot the hell out of film, even when they’re not awing the audience with some wide shot of a stunning vista. There are impressive unbroken shots of men and women at war, charged confrontations, and mystical experiences. Beyond that, the film is a triumph of imagery and composition, with any number of well-framed shots conveying the atmosphere and meaning of the piece better than any sorry bit of dialogue.
And the director and his company expertly evoke an appropriately epic, bloody vibe for their picture. Much of this plays like a live action Genndy Tartakovsky piece, trading on an epic quest, steeped in a particular mythos, buoyed by larger than life renditions of battle and determination. There are big choices here, in the aesthetic, in the tone, in the costuming and other design elements, that craft an impressive sense of place for the Scandinavian legend that Eggers and his fellow creatives seek to summon for their audiences.
Here’s the problem -- I don’t really care about that story. I don’t really care about the characters within it. And no matter how much exquisite texture the director packs into his fantasy-historical epic, that means I don’t really care when the quest is completed and the wrongs are righted either. The Northman is an impressively-built, intricately-carved, but ultimately empty box, and I could not, in good conscience, recommend it for its spectacle alone.
Even if you haven't read Hamet or, god help us, The Lion King, you can see where this is going. Father killed by Uncle. Young son runs off and must become big and strong so he can avenge his dad. So on and so forth. Spinning a new version of an old narrative is no sin. The story is in the telling. And Eggers and his co-writer and brother Sjón get some credit for returning the plot to its Scandinavian roots. But there’s not much there beyond a few overfamiliar tropes spruced up with a faithful rendition of cultural myths and traditions.
The biggest problem is our protagonist, Amleth, himself. He’s a largely flat character and star Alexander Skarsgård plays him like a cipher. Like so many characters here, save for a select few, he never evinces a sense of having an inner life. Instead, Amleth is just a big dumb Viking Batman, berserking in the hinterlands and avenging in the night and otherwise showing off his manly prowess with little depth or meaning beneath his crusade for revenge.
Key events in his life, from having to hide his true nature as a thought-dead prince posing as a slave, to falling in love with a Slavic sorceress, to killing those who murdered his father are surprisingly deadened and emotionally uninvolving. This is a stoic meathead playing out predictable beats with extraordinary imagery. You can marvel at the look of the thing for some time, but after a while, you realize you care about this moving painting, but not really the figures within it.
The exception comes in the scene where Amleth, still posing as a slave, reveals his true nature to his mother, Gudrún, his father’s widow and the coerced wife of his uncle the usurper. Amleth’s dream is to kill his uncle Fjölnir, not just to avenge his father, but to free his mother from the chains of her forced marriage. That is the dream he has been fighting to keep alight all these years.
Only, when he figuratively unmasks himself, she reveals that it was Amleth’s father who conceived him by raping her, who forced her into marriage. And worse yet, she begged the bastard Fjölnir to kill his brother, claim his throne, and slay her firstborn to rid her of this curse. There is great power in that. Nicole Kidman nearly steals the whole movie with her taunting, upbraiding monologue, giving the best performance in the film. (Give or take Willem DaFoe gettin’ weird with it, as usual.) The twist that Amleth’s whole quest is founded on a canard, that the victim he set out to save was, in fact, the author of his misery, is the most electric turn in the narrative, one that threatens to upend the life the young man thought he was living to this point.
And then...things just go back to the usual. He keeps questing, and yeah, now he wants to kill his mom and settle down with Olga, his fellow slave and love interest as his family instead. But the movie reverts into being a hollow Norseman’s brodown, rife with animalistic roars and outsized, blood-drenched battles, but light on reasons to give a damn about the purpose and losses that are supposed to motivate them.
There is some merit to The Norseman as an elevated piece of folklore. Eggers and company’s devotion to injecting the film with every bit of Scandinavian ritual and cultural inheritance possible gives it its character. The script and the images it calls for take the spiritual elements of these old tales seriously, steeping Amleth’s trials in the auspices of fate and the demands of the gods. Scenes of spiritual family trees or valkyries carrying the dead to Valhalla or Björk-backed seeresses cajoling men to their destinies have a force and a flavor that the film’s more down-to-earth interactions lack.
All of that's not enough, though, to save a movie that's rich with texture but meager in story and character. There is merit in retelling the grand tales of old, particularly with an air towards fidelity to the historical contexts and cultural wellsprings they emerge from. Wrapping them in alternatively gritty and gorgeous cinematic finery can give them new life, using the tools of our era to bring the stories of theirs back to life. But without the heart of the tale being revived along with the corpus, without a depth to the players who compel it anew, all that's left is a noble and radiant, but long and lifeless slog.
Much like The VVitch, The Northman is less about action and more about leaning into a mythology while attempting to keep everything realistically grounded. Eggers achieves that again here, and Skarsgard is perfect in his role, but there are some sections that drag a bit. Thankfully there are a lot of truly interesting and well shot scenes to overcome these lulls. There is a very dark fairytale feel to this film, which works for me. If you're looking for pure action, you'll be disappointed, but if you're patient, there is a lot to appreciate.
The mention of this being an "arthouse film" is inevitable due to some demographics strangely expecting this to be some action-packed Vikings or Game of Thrones (let's just say then thsi is a wrong film to watch). But I'd like to say that The Northman is much less arthouse-y than Robert Eggers' previous films like The Lighthouse.
Which is a good thing. The film is visceral, and it takes its time to build the atmosphere of tense, anger, anddiscomfrot through sequences of long shots and vivid hallucination as experienced by Amleth. I was expecting this to be much more arthouse-y especially in the beginning, but the film gets into the meat of the story very quickly in the beginning (the death of the king and Amleth's quest for revenge). Even during the long momentums Amleth spends to indulge himself in revenge is full of composites through the play of sound design, music, and shots of the character's emotion or their lucid imagination.
Although yes, the film does not draw the line between vision/hallucination with the actual events happening, and the ambiguous boundaries between magic and reality, there is almost none of the shot that feels like a filler as is common in arthouse films. I'd even say Amleth's imaginative battle to obtain the Draugr sword is not a waste of sequences as it sufficiently depicts his conquest of himself and his journey into the depths of revenge that he can only imagine prior but not actually take it.
Despite being testorone-inducing by showing sweaty muscular men fighting on the field (or on the bed with their women, at times), I find the film's aim to say about the pointlessness of revenge is clearly stated.
The sequences where Amleth realizes the situation with his father reclined him to reconsider his goal of revenge, only to gain enough drives when he realizes what it would cost in the future. And although the ending with triumphant music admittedly seems a bit ambiguously glorify Amleth's ambition to be awaited in valhalla, but we've shown the folly he has to go through and even when it had to cost him the people he thought would dear to him.
The last scene reminds me eerily of The Revenant - in fact, the whole film's bleakness reminds me of it. But if The Revenant's bleakness hinge upon the desolation, desperate, and cold world of DiCaprio's character's perilous attempt at survival, the grim world of The Northman inhabited by Skarsgaard's character is a world of sorcery, rage, and trollish vengeance of undying spirits.
I think Eggers has done a wonderful job in bringing to life the vengeful spirit of the Bjornulfr with his own style.
Boring predictable unbelievable and violence
I am now trauma-bound with everyone in that movie theatre.
An epic film with a straightforward story and effective use of Norse mythology. Its intense rituals, powerful imagery, guttural and pounding music and display of culture in its authentic setting makes for an entertaining and memorable experience. Stunning scenery, brutal and bloody fight scenes and great acting performances, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Even though the story is very bare bones, Robert Eggers brings in fantastic visuals with great details that it is still a joy to watch. There are so many interesting shots that leave the viewer questioning what reality is. Although that can lead to a bit of confusion, I was still able to keep up with the ideas presented. The acting in this film was amazing all around. I really enjoyed Nicole Kidman and Alexander Skarsgård performances. The romantic relationship between Alexander Skarsgård and Anya Taylor-Joy did feel a little half baked and underdeveloped though. The action in this movie is few and far between, but when it does peak its head out it in brutal and visceral leaving audiences gasping at the bloody details and gore. The action was done really well, with not many cuts and incredible choreography. Overall, this film was really great and I wish I would have watched it in the theaters.
Score: 87%
Verdict: Excellent
The Northman is a strange film, in the sense that it seems out of its time. Had it been made in the 1990s it would have been an overwhelming success, but perhaps it is too pure, wild and epic for these years. It is reminiscent of The 13th Warrior, with a very careful treatment of Viking culture and some breathtaking scenery.
It is essential to see it in the original version to appreciate the chants and expressions, the accents and brutality of some of the speeches. The Northman is a delight for the eyes that, while it moves away from artifice and choreography, focuses on impeccable photography and camerawork. Alexander Skarsgård impresses, physically and artistically, and his synergy with Anya Taylor-Joy takes the young actress away from other roles where she was not allowed to shine.
The Man from the North is 136 minutes of adventure, of revenge and darkness. Of love for details and for making films without thinking about what others will say. Maybe that's why it hasn't had the success it deserves.
Amazingly unique series of pictures with good acting.
Booooooooorrrriiiiinggggg ، super slow ,cliché revenge movie with added fantasy spice ،don't waste your time
A definite vibe and some great tracking shots but maybe the pacing in Act 2 really didn’t need to be quite as slow..
Abandoned 1-hour and 10 minutes in
The pacing of this was awful. I looked up and 1-hour had passed but it felt like only 10 minutes worth of the story has been told as it was so slow and nothing of worth had happened in 50 minutes.
I don't understand why they market movies as something it isn't it. It can only lead to disappointment. Everything in the trailer was shown within the first 20 minutes because they were trying to show this movie as something it wasn't so used * all** the noteworthy scenes and what was left was bland and boring.
The main issue here was pacing though as the Alexander was brilliant.
Artistic, stunningly beautiful cinematography, realistically and historically brutal, perfectly cast and acting delivered perfectly. Watch this movie for what it is, not what you want it to be!
I was going to stop watching after the first twenty minutes oh how I wished that I did instead of wasting two hours twenty minutes I would have only have wasted twenty minutes !
Like a church service for new gods, this is rich in imagery, beautiful and fascinating, and yet a little slow at times.
Eggers dresses up old myths in new robes, and what magnificent robes they are. It's as though he melted down Excalibur and 300 to forge a new force that I reckon will be with us for a very long time.
I enjoyed everything and every moment of this movie.
It has everything, romance, suspense, action, blood, plot twists.
the acting is very good, and man, this movie is intense. I don't think it is slow, I don't know what kind of things you're used to watch, this isn't slow.
and I loved Anya!
Björk and Willem Dafoe parts where short but on point.
The latest film by Robert Eggers establishes the filmmaker's filmic stamp, who with The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019) showed the public that terror, especially psychological terror, goes wonderfully with artistic photography. In this interpretation of the Amleth legend, Eggers gave us a wonderful film where every element is beautiful. Alexander Skarsgård and Anya Taylor-Joy as the protagonists are wonderfully chosen for this story, as their performances were perfect from start to finish. The music by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough is masterful, as is the sound. The photography of Jarin Blaschke, who worked on Eggers' previous two films, serves to ensure a duo that still has a lot to experience and capture on the big screen with that dark and gloomy style. And one more element that brings the narrative to perfection is the editing of Louise Ford, who coincides with Eggers again in this film and who manages to include the sequences of chaos and madness in a wonderful way. There is nothing I didn't love about this movie from minute one to the end credits. Completely recommended. And as if that were not enough, Alfonso Cuarón also recommended it.
The Northman
I didn’t have any expectations watching this movie, but hot daaaamn if that isn’t my favorite movie of 2022 yet. I enjoyed the acting so so much. The cinematography is spectacular. The twists and turn, I could definitely see them from a far, but they had the same effect nonetheless because seeing the actors interacting with each other really put me right there with them. I really loved The Northman. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who tried to get a piece of that Shakespearean cookie and couldn’t cuz this is better. And if you’re already into that cookie. Then, what are you waiting for ?!
An epic story about revenge! I love the fight scenes in this and the gore. The abs/muscles of Alexander Skarsgård are out of this world and so are the sets and the visuals. This is a slow burn that feels like it went on for a little bit too long but it was well worth it because of that epic conclusion with the volcano.
If you like Midsommar, then this is a flick for you. It's similarly warped. Not my cup of jenkem, but to each their own.
I've seen 3/4 of the movie. Considering the cast, budget and marketing, I was expecting a cinematic experience. I didn't understand what it was supposed to be about or for whom. A big disappointment and a waste of time. Rating 3/10.
Nice scenery, but I found it hard to take this film seriously, mostly seemed silly. My opinion only, no need to pile on me.
They link I have says April 22 2022 release date and they are pretty accurate
Heads up: I know that there are a lot of folks going into this expecting it to scratch the same itch as Game of Thrones or Vikings.
You’re going to come out extremely disappointed if you expect that.
This is way slower and artsier than your average 'manly' action movie, the tone and feel are more akin to something like The Revenant
Alright, so I did not give this its due the first time around, here are my updated thoughts.
The first thing that stood out to me during the rewatch is how much of the imagery had already burned itself into my brain, there are so many fantastic long takes that I still easily remembered months after seeing it the first time.
I love the brutal and raw feel, which combined with the score creates a very good sense of atmosphere.
The characters clicked for me this time around, a lot of their development is done in subtle and visual ways (pay attention to how cold Skardsgard’s character claims he is versus how he acts). As a result, I wasn’t bored and the pacing fell into place for me.
While the story is still a little by the numbers and predictable, I picked up on this theme of the toxicity and pointlessness of revenge, which sets it apart from similar stories like The Lion King or Hamlet.
The action slaps, but I’m still not a fan of some of the arthouse touches. For example I don’t get what that hallucination fight during the sword retrieval scene wants to convey.
But yeah, it’s much better than I initially gave it credit for, even if it’s nowhere near peak Eggers.
7.5/10
This movie was just getting mediocre reviews (it had only been out for a day) when I decided to see it. I think I know why and I’m going to disagree with them. This film is about Norse legend and mythology, no less and no more. It is a bleak tale about a bleak period where honour was defined by vengeance and brutality was its bi-product. Our culture is not use to straight up Homer-esk tales of heroes and gods. Our culture likes its mythical heroes to be served with humour and wisecracks. This treatment is in dark contrast to that. It is, however, beautifully crafted. The locations are stunning in their natural beauty. The cinematography is intentional and captivating. The action sequences and the CGI are painstakingly real and truly brutal. The performances are faithful to the culture they inhabit. As is my custom, I did a quick exit poll of others leaving the theatre with me. The three people I spoke to each gave it a 9 out of 10. Nothing mediocre about those ratings. I agree and give this film a 9 (beautifully crafted) out of 10. [Heroic Mythology]
A bloody, epic, dark Viking saga. A look into a character who has lost his way despite their oath. A tale of trying to escape or fulfill ones fate and just how deeply entwined the spiritual was for people off this age. Hooked me for the full runtime, the story is simple but this let's the deep dive into the mysticism play out all the better.
Other reviews here are simply wrong, its like they're reviewing something they expected to be Fast and Furious Vikings Edition.
Eggers hits a perfect 3 movies for his directoral entry with The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman. Probably his most watchable for general audiences this really shouldn't be missed, the score is guttural, otherworldly and raw. The cinematography is sublime. The acting and character depth makes this feel all the more satisfying at it's climax.
9/10
This movie cured my insomnia. Period.
Ps: I thought Nicole was wearing some strange makeup until I realized it's her actual face.
Leaning more on the mysticism than I thought it would, The Northman is a grizzly, gorey Viking epic that, while the most accessible of Eggers productions, feels somewhat unfinished in its released form. Taken individually, every part of this movie nails the feel of a big budget Norse fable, but when woven together it somehow feels incomplete and a little disjointed? Maybe it'll grow on me as it marinates in my mind over the coming days, but I can't help but feel there is something missing here that would have wrapped it all together.
Watching this right after The Woman King may have changed how I view this movie a bit. In some aspects, that one is better. In others, this takes the cake. As I mentioned in that review, historical dramas are not really my thing, so the slight fantasy adventure nature of this one makes me prefer this. Some of the cinematography here is also pretty great!
Rating: 4/5 - 85% - Would Recommend
It's pretty much what I would expect being a viking. It was a good story though and pretty engaging.
The whole movie is textbook Robert Eggers, if you like his previous 2 movies especially lighthouse u will definetly like this one.
do not watch this movie expecting a viking epic with bloody battles and gore this isn't that kind of movie
They portrait the vikings well of those days, but it was quite a boring story.
I feel like this movie could have been shorter since some parts dragged out for a while. Still, a very well-shot movie with the common Viking revenge story.
Ehh... not my cup of tea. I honestly couldn't wait for the movie to end and when it ended I wasn't happy about it either.
Absolutely boring film, I was glad when it was over...
Mostly very predictable story, dull and unrealistic combat scenes, generally lots of screaming. It's animalistic in sound and picture and we are supposed to appreciate it for this. Frankly, I was just bored.
Seems like they jumped on the band wagon a little late with this on Vikings were kinda played so maybe I’m biased there nothing to keep my attention
A few good performances, and some cool visuals. But it’s so drawn out that it kills any energy it has.
My biggest problem with the Northman is that all characters are unsympathetic… even the protagonist and his love interest, though less. The lore is interesting but the culture and the lifestyle are presented as unbearably inhuman, dark and dystopian, where everyone lives to kill, avenge, betray and die.
My biggest problem with the Northman is that all characters are unsympathetic… even the protagonist and his love interest, though less. The lore is interesting but the culture and the lifestyle are presented as unbearably inhuman, dark and dystopian, where everyone lives to kill, avenge, betray and die.
The Northman is a long, boring, period piece about revenge. I have not liked the previous films from Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse, The VVitch), I didn't like this, and I don't look forward to any forthcoming The-Noun movies he will release. Just like his other movies, this is "art" first, and an interesting story second. The fantasy elements were what really threw me off, including, but not liked to, a Bjork witch, and a Valkyrie with braces - what the fuck? Furthermore, the scenes, plural, of singing and dancing... none for me, thanks.
The movie does look amazing - that's never the problem - and I figure that is the key takeaway for people who actually like this.
The acting is good, though sometimes way over the top.
At its core, The Northman is a sword and sorcery movie for art snobs. Was there a demand for that?
The movie is over two hours. Here's the plot: boy's father is murdered, boy vows revenge, boy becomes a man, man gets revenge. Now you tell me, does that need a runtime of the aforementioned length? I didn't think so.
I lasted 10 minutes into this weird ass thit movie. Came for Vikings and got dick slaps and furry farts.
No wonder “The Northman” ended up alienating the majority of its audience though: way too slow and atmospheric for casual movie-goers, a little too much over the top for engaged cinephiles (the accents surely didn’t help). Honestly, I found it a little void emotionally but highly entertaining nevertheless. A great example that even the most trivial stories can find new life if put on stage by the right director. More than the crude action and sweaty vikings, I really liked the focus on folklore, with lots of fireplace rituals and supernatural elements that may have been divine interventions or rather a figment of the characters’ imagination filtered by tradition. The only real flaw is that there are a couple of unneeded steps that weighed the plot down a little.
The script feels like it was spit out of some AI algorithm.
The sets, costumes, cast, and the story itself are all above par. The dialog was just ridiculous and felt like it was dumbed down for western audiences. While it wasn't a very complicated story, they still felt the need to spoon feed everything.
This looked like a home-run and was psyched to watch it, but was never able to get emotionally invested.
Seriously disappointing.
Go watch Vinland Saga instead. A much better viking story.
Revenge ends up being something absurd
Not a bad movie. I think it was a little drawn out in parts and could have been shortened. Overall, worth the watch. Just expect a lot of boring parts interspersed with fast action scenes.
If you're a fan of Eggers' previous work, you'll know that this is going to be far more than just another viking epic. The movie's story is stylishly told and well-acted but it's certainly not for everybody.
Violence with no substance. Watching a bunch of white men terrorize other people is not my idea of a fun time. Hard pass.
Do yourself a favor and don't watch this. too much bad acting, bad dialogues, and bad plot overall. I tried to like the movie because I'm a fan of Vikings lore, I even watched the whole thing hoping for it to improve but it just kept getting worse.
Don't get me wrong, if you have watched vikings-you are expecting a lot of, a movie can't simply cover all genres a series can. If you have not watched vikings-this could be a slow burner but if you give it time and appericiate the nature, you will probably bask in its glory. To me looks like they cashed in on viking Success but also made sure to be grounded...
Horrible Movie. This was the first film I had to turn off since a few years right around the half time mark. I'm not sure what it is exactly but I guess the mix of the boring story, stupid scenes and the really really unlikeable main character did it for me.
My wife did finish the movie the next day without me but mentioned it didn't get any better.
Another brilliant banger from Eggers. It's a dreary epic drenched in blood with gorgeous set pieces and balls of steel. The Shakespearean story satisfies with an conclusion that black metal bands dream of.
Hard to believe anyone could sit through this.
Eggers made an other atmospheric movie. Willem Dafoe da best da Nr. 1. for real. He was so funny and scary at the same time. Great cast, bit of history, myth, beautiful landscapes, blood, fights everything. At times a bit slow or not so compalling, couple boring scenes but a great movie. 8 out of 10 cuz Willem was amazing.
I watched this for anya Taylor joy and even she couldn’t combat this horrible movie
I know this show is getting bad reviews but personally I thought it was phenomenal. Amazing example of dark norse tales, which many times don't have happy endings.
"in all aspects except phisical i am a wolf"
no fr it was beautiful but some moments were so cringe they were funny. Also my dumb ass didnt connect the fact that the mcs name being Hamlet is bc this is a fucking reteling of Hamlet... Also does the movie really want me to be mad at a woman for conspiring to kill her husband when he raped her for years? Not thats shes a good person, she did also conspire to kill her son who was at the time an innocent child but then again everyone in this movie is an asshole and i don't like them. Except Olga I guess.
The vibe was there tho. The music was haunting and the visuals were interesting to look at. I just wish there were less wolf boys.
Also props to the ex-queen for the bitch slap.
Excellent movie. Lovely plot that doesn’t assume the audience is stupid. Only falls short on some special effects.
Visually, the movie was amazing. It looked so fantastic. I also liked how none of the trailers spoiled that roughly a third into this film Skarsgard cuts off his cool long Viking hair and then spends the whole second act with a shitty bowl cut pretending to be a medieval village idiot
Shout by r4dixxVIP 4BlockedParent2021-12-20T21:20:13Z
I am so hyped for this