Review: Pathfinder


Viking raiders leave a child behind after a raid on Native Americans some 1100 years ago, he grows up among the Indians (and now played by Karl Urban), never quite shunned, but never quite being one of them. The Viking raiders (lead by an unrecognisable Clancy Brown) come of course, intent on much hacking and slashing. Russell Means is Urban’s adopted father.

 

Although based (rather loosely) on historical events, this mythically-inclined Navajos vs. Vikings flick from 2007 sounded gloriously stupid to me, and I’m a fan of Viking stories. However, I had also heard that the film was awful, ugly-looking, and boring. Strangely enough, I found that it was none of the above. This Marcus Nispel (the underrated remake of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) film, which plays like a schlocky B-movie directed by an arthouse visionary, is a visually stunning, watchable (especially the impressive opening 30 minutes), sometimes wonderfully violent, but ultimately simplistic B-movie. More attention to character development (particularly the Vikings, who are disappointingly one-note, though visually they look wonderful, kind of expressionistic) and better performances (Urban’s no leading man, that’s for sure) were really needed though, because the look and basic concept of the film are all there is. In fact, the film would have made an excellent silent film. Unfortunately, it’s not silent, and none of the characters or the plot (which is a virtual re-tread of the terrific “Apocalypto” but featuring Vikings and Native Americans instead of Mayans) are anything memorable. Superb cinematography by Daniel Pearl (who shot both versions of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) is one of the better examples of the washed-out look I usually hate. It certainly suits the material, at any rate.

 

“The Vikings” still stands as the only truly successful Viking movie, but this one’s got a lot more going for it than the dopey, boring, blood-soaker I’d heard it to be (call it a slightly superior, third cousin of the ‘sword & sorcery’ type films that came out during the 80s, though even some of those I loved). In fact, I liked it better than the disappointing “300”. The screenplay is by Laeta Kalogridis, based on a 1987 Norwegian film.

 

Rating: C+

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