Review: The Northman

Set in Medieval Iceland, Alexander Skarsgaard stars as Amleth, who as a young man saw his Viking ruler father Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke) meet his demise at the hands of his own brother Fjölnir (Claes Bang), who takes the King’s wife Gudrun for good measure too. Amleth thankfully escapes before he can be harmed. Over the years Amleth broods and seethes, plotting to avenge his father’s death and rescue his mother. Anya Taylor-Joy plays Olga, Amleth’s love interest.

 

1958’s “The Vikings” still reigns supreme as the best Viking film of all-time. However, this 2022 film from director Robert Eggers (whose “The Witch” largely bored me to tears) and co-writer Sjon makes for an enjoyably loopy Viking version of “Hamlet”. It’s based on a Scandinavian legend that apparently inspired The Bard. It’s a good-looking, well-shot film. I also thought the music score by Robin Carolan (no other credits thus far) and Sebastian Gainsborough (who composed the trailer music for “The Handmaiden”) was top-notch, the highlight of the film.

 

I’d prefer a more straightforward Viking adventure film myself, but this film has a batshit nature I couldn’t help but enjoy and it is well-made. Basically, if you enjoyed Kurosawa’s version of “Macbeth” called “Throne of Blood” (his best film in my view), you’ll dig this film’s vibe. Negatives are numerous but very minor. The film’s editing is a touch too MTV for my liking, for instance. The plotting is a bit too familiar and basic, but given it’s basically “Hamlet”, some might find it a bit churlish to call that a flaw. Also, Gustav Lindh’s snooty, rather foppish Thorir the Proud seems to have swanned on in from a different film entirely. More at home in a royal costume drama setting rather than a trippy, brooding Viking film he just stands out like a sore thumb and isn’t remotely threatening. Claes Bang is a bit forgettable too as his father, the villain of the piece. He's not bad, just not overly interesting, which is a shame. Better casting in one or both of those two roles would’ve really elevated this film to another tier.

 

On the plus side, Nicole Kidman gives one of her best performances playing one of the more interesting and shaded characters in the film. It’s a big performance, but again, we’re basically dealing with Shakespeare here after all. In smaller roles, Ethan Hawke has a kind of grungy, Brad Pitt in “Kalifornia” vibe to him here that works for the film quite well. I also thought Anya Taylor-Joy was well-cast and certainly more interesting here than in “The Witch”. Look out for brief bits by a daffy Willem Dafoe and a pitch-perfect usage of Bjork as a seer. Violence-wise it’s not wall-to-wall bloodshed but when it does get violent, it doesn’t spare much, nor does it spare women and children. Vikings were rowdy and violent, let’s be honest.

 

Although perhaps a bit overrated, this rather muscular Viking film has a lot to enjoy. It looks great, it sounds great, and it’s certainly quite different in many regards, if not in terms of plotting. A strong film, if not a great one.

 

Rating: B-