Saturday, January 14, 2012

Film Review - Conan the Barbarian (2011)


Conan the Barbarian is a 2011 remake of the 1982 fantasy classic which introduced Arnold Schwarzenegger to the world but this time it is Jason Momoa from the hit TV series Game of Thrones that takes on the role of Conan, the legendary Barbarian warrior who must journey from his ruined home to seek the answer to the riddle of steel.

Now, I went into this movie not really expecting a lot but I did really enjoy the 82 film directed by John Milius and co-written by Oliver Stone, it was mythic, it had a great cast including Arnold, Mako, James Earl Jones and the late Valerie Quennessen plus having a beautiful, thunderous and sweeping epic of a score by the late Basil Poledouris, with that pedigree how can this new film ever hope to compete?

Well it can't, it has none of the epicness, none of the myth, none of the sense of having to answer the riddle of steel or to seek the days of high adventure, instead the whole thing just comes across as a boring fantasy tale that in light of shows like the recent Spartacus or Game of Thrones which I mentioned earlier, this just doesn't make the grade.

But wait there's more, Momoa just doesn't have the pure brooding presence that Arnold had and Ron Perlman and Stephen Lang just feel wasted in their roles but what feels worse is the score by Tyler Bates, it feels very generic compared to Poledouris's sweeping score that is just magnificent.

Sadly, I just cannot recommend this movie, it is not worth your time, rent the 82 version instead, its cheaper and will you give more for your money, 1 out of 5.

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