Movie Review: The Northman

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

Roger Eggers' most straightforward movie to date is an excellent Viking epic. 

I will admit that this was a movie that automatically piqued my interest. As a fan of Roger Eggers' previous films, I was interested to see how he would adapt going from his earlier indie productions to this big budget epic. It turned out he adapted very well. While this may not be at the same level as The Lighthouse, it is still an excellent movie in its own right. What makes this movie work is that beneath all of the weird imagery and gory action scenes, there is a simple and relatable story at the heart of the film. This is essentially a film about a man who sets out to get revenge on the man who killed his father. There is nothing complex about that and it is something that makes it so everybody can put themselves in the shoes of the main character. Of course, being a Roger Eggers film there are times when we question how morally correct the character is in his mission and whether he is doing this for justice of for himself. However while those moments make the character more complex, they never make it so we are not able to care about him or his plight. Equally important are his relationships with other characters which are very well handled. One scene between him and his mother is disturbing in the best way possible and it wouldn't be so if we were not already invested in this character. The romance is also very well handled and even raises the stakes in the character's emotional journey. This movie also benefits from a top notch cast. While this film is full of big movie stars, none of them feel cast because of their popularity but because of how perfect they are for the characters. This is a movie where you forget what actors you are watching as they fully become the characters they play on screen. 

Being a Roger Eggers film, this movie is full of strange imagery and there are many fantasy elements woven in. This both helps and hurts the film. Visually they enhance the film very much and many of these fantastical scenes are simply breathtaking to look at. These scenes show why Eggers is such a fantastically talented visual filmmaker and some images will stay in your mind long after the movie is over. The scenes also add to the feeling of this being an old school epic and help make the film feel larger than life. However the scenes also make a simple story that doesn't need to be complicated feel needlessly complicated at times. This is especially true once you consider that the story would still work just fine without the fantasy elements. Still even with this the movie is the most straightforward and mainstream of Eggers movies, which means it is still quite weird by normal movie standards. 

Overall despite any faults this is an excellent movie, that proves once again how great of a director Roger Eggers is.