The Northman: Film Review
After establishing himself with the offbeat independent films The Witch and The Lighthouse, Robert Eggers makes the jump into the big studio blockbuster realm with his ambitious Viking epic The Northman.
The film tells the story of Prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard), who witnesses his father, King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke), being murdered when he is a young boy. He runs away from home – otherwise, he’ll be killed too – and vows to exact revenge on the murderer and rescue his mother, Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman). His mission begins in earnest many years later when he learns the whereabouts of the killer.
I really wanted to love The Northman as much as everyone else seems to but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the hype. It has standout moments when it really gripped and thrilled me but those are separated by long, slow areas that really bring the momentum down. I thought it was good but nothing special, narratively speaking.
From the trailer, I got the impression this would be very action-heavy and Amleth would create an army to go up against his father’s murderer but he doesn’t. After the initial rampage that you’ve probably seen in the marketing, it changes pace, slows right down and follows Amleth’s solo quest to infiltrate the murderer’s community. I wasn’t bored but felt underwhelmed by the direction of the story. Even though it isn’t big on action, there’s plenty of gruesome, wince-inducing violence to be found in this film. It is brutal, bloody and absolutely savage.
If you are familiar with Eggers’ work, you might expect the film to be quite weird and have his grey, gritty visual style – and you’d be correct. The Northman is totally bonkers in places and might put some people off but it is relatively tame compared to the filmmaker’s earlier films and certainly more accessible. On the visuals front, I liked that he stuck with his distinctive look despite the massive increase in budget and scale. The stunning cinematography captures the beautiful Icelandic landscapes and there are outstanding one-take sequences filled with so many actors, animals and movement. The complex shots must have taken meticulous timing and so many blocking rehearsals to get them just right.
Amleth feels like the role Skarsgard was born to play – he is ferocious and primal as the warrior who has been hellbent on vengeance all his life without much thought for anything else. He speaks in a gruff voice and is so big and muscular that he stomps around with hunched shoulders. My other standouts were Kidman, whose role gets meatier and more unhinged as the film progresses, and Anya Taylor-Joy as his ethereal love interest and co-conspirator.
For Eggers and what it means for original, distinctive ideas in filmmaking, I really want The Northman to do well at the box office but I just fear it’s too slow, long and quirky to have mass appeal.
In cinemas from Friday 15th April