The Northman review

THE NORTHMAN: 

ROBERT EGGERS SUCCESSFULLY MAKES THE LEAP FROM INDIE HORROR MOVIES TO LARGE-SCALE SWASHBUCKLING EPICS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

FOCUS FEATURES

Alexander Skarsgård in The Northman

 

            Director, Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse) takes a “stab” at historical epics in The Northman, the third film in Eggers’ filmography and based on the legend of Amleth. This film is being released alongside The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which I had just posted a review for, and after seeing this I got to say, this is a really good weekend to go to the movies. 

            I’ve really enjoyed Eggers’ previous films, from the chilling and atmospheric, The Witch to the absolutely chaotic, The Lighthouse. Naturally, I was intrigued to see his take on a swashbuckling epic with this movie. 

            While I feel like The Witch and The Lighthouse have stronger narratives, this is a damn impressive spectacle that’s as dazzling to look at as it is unapologetically violent. I’m not kidding about the violence, they do not sugarcoat it at all, you are getting raw, nasty bloodshed that makes The Last Duel and The Green Knight look like kids’ movies by comparison. 

            The film follows Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård-True Blood, The Legend of Tarzan, Godzilla VS Kong), a prince from the island of Hrafnsey who at a young age, witnessed his father (Ethan Hawke-Reality Bites, Gattaca, Moon Knight) getting murdered and his mother (Nicole Kidman-Eyes Wide Shut, The Hours, Moulin Rouge!) being taken away by his uncle, Fjölnir (Claes Bang-The Square, The Affair, Dracula (2020)) and vows to avenge his father, save his mother, and kill his uncle. Now all grown up, Amleth has become a Viking and is out for blood as he slashes and brawls his way through Fjölnir’s forces to rescue his kidnapped mother and take his tyrannical uncle down with the aid of a sorceress known as Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy-The Witch, Emma (2020), Last Night in Soho). 

            The film also stars Willem Dafoe (The Boondock Saints, Spider-Man, The Lighthouse) as Heimir the Fool, Björk as The Seeress, Gustav Lindh (The Circle (2015), Queen of Hearts, Riders of Justice) as Thorir the Proud, Invar Eggert Sigurðsson (K-19: The Widowmaker, Everest, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) as He-Witch, Olwen Fouéré (Mandy, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)) as Ashildur Hofgythja, Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones, The Witch, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) as Halldora the Pict, Ian Whyte (Alien VS Predator 1 and 2, Clash of the Titans (2010), Prometheus) as The Mound Dweller, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Game of Thrones, Eddie: Strongman, Kickboxer: Retaliation) as Thorfinnr, Ralph Ineson (Harry Potter franchise, Game of Thrones, The Witch) as Captain Volodymyr, Tadhg Murphy (Alexander, Vikings, Wrath of Man) as Eirikr Blaze-Eye, and Murray McArthur (Finding Neverland, The Last Legion, Made of Honor) as Hákon Ironbeard. 

            Overall, The Northman is the kind of film that’s not afraid to go balls to the wall with its violence and heavy subject matter, to the point where I’m questioning if anything had to be cut to earn an R rating. The film is relentlessly violent and unapologetic in how cruel and depressing this world is. 

            It’s like if they took all the really messed up and disturbing scenes from The Green Knight and The Last Dueland made an entire movie about them. Given that this is basically a revenge film that just happens to be a historical epic as well, you’re gonna see a lot of carnage. 

            A lot of decapitations, people getting brutally beaten and tortured, villagers burning alive in a house, people getting shot by arrows, and there’s even a scene where someone gets slashed in the stomach and his intestines start falling out and another involving a nose that actually made me squirm a little in my seat. Unlike, something like some of the Saw films or The Human Centipede, the brutality feels warranted and sets the tone for this extremely harsh and unpleasant environment. 

The violence is excessive, but it doesn’t feel like overkill (No pun intended), nor does it hijack the story. Honestly, I consider this to be the Viking equivalent of Sin City or Mad Max: Fury Road as one of those experiments in movie violence. 

            The plot is a pretty basic revenge story that isn’t quite as character based as Eggers’ other films. However, what’s brilliant about Eggers directing this is that he’s able to take this familiar concept and make it 100% his own, it may not be a horror film, but you can see his fingerprints all over the film in terms of pacing and atmosphere. 

            As brooding and mean this world is, the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, lots of sweeping shots of the Ireland landscapes and mountains and the dark and mysterious forests. The scenery adds to the size and scope of the film and makes it feel like a larger than life quest that could potentially rival the works of Tolkien…yeah, I just said that! 

             One of the aspects of this film I find really interesting is that there really isn’t much of a hero, not even Skarsgård. Sure, he watched his father get murdered and his mother get kidnapped, and you want him to get his revenge, but as the film goes on you start to realize that he is arguably killing way more people than the actual villains. 

            It’s one of the most unique things about the film as if it was a mainstream Hollywood production, they probably would have made him a brute Viking but with a heart of gold…definitely not the case here. This is like a brutally honest depiction of what a Viking might have been like back in those times and Skarsgård makes a perfect Viking and unlike his Tarzan movie, has a great movie to go along with his performance. 

            Nicole Kidman is also excellent in this movie with a very against-type performance, but I would have to go into spoiler territory to describe it. I’m glad they utilized her a lot more than the trailers would make you think and even side characters like Willem Dafoe make a huge impression with very minor roles. 

            The Northman adds another worthy entry into Robert Eggers’ catalog that is both a visually stunning and unapologetically violent. Add in some incredible performances by the cast and edge of your seat battle sequences and you got a damn good Viking epic that’s definitely worth checking out on the big screen.