Film Review - The Northman (2022)

The Northman is directed and co-written by Robert Eggers who also made the Lighthouse in 2019 and takes place in AD 895 where Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) who as a child saw his father a noble king (Ethan Hawke) murdered by his uncle Fjolnir (Claes Bang) he flees to the sea and is taken by a group of marauders and when he comes of age he vows to Avenge his Father, Save his Mother and Kill Fjolnir.

 

The Northman is a film that when I initially came out of it I felt mixed on but now that I sit with it a little more I feel that it is well crafted but too long for its thin story, but firstly that craftsmanship starting with Jarin Blaschke’s cinematography is very good on the big screen and there are lots of nice shots of Iceland hills, cold seas and fiery volcanoes and it is very nice to look at.

 

Also good is the music score by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough they create some nice moody cues as well as some big bombastic chords that really stir the emotions at times and are felt by the bass of the cinema speakers also a lot of the cast here are very good, Hawke is fine but is not in the film long enough to make a memorable impression, Nicole Kidman and Anya Taylor-Joy are very good here as the Queen and the lady love of Amleth while Willem Dafoe has a fun role as a court jester and Bjork as a prophesising songstress.

 

But alas this movie for me has a pretty thin story and more than once while watching it I kept thinking of the Lion King which told a very similar story in 88 minutes and this one goes on for 140 minutes and I felt personally that it could’ve been cut down to about 110 minutes and I probably would’ve enjoyed the film more for I felt that it overstayed its welcome for me.

 

And so that was the Northman and its well made and performed but too long, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - The Drovers Wife (2022)

The Drovers Wife is directed, written and starring Leah Purcell as Molly Johnson a Drovers Wife in the Victorian High Country in the 1860s as she tries to raise her children on the land while her Drover husband is away but this will not be easy.

 

The Drovers Wife did very little for me I’m sorry to say and like the Northman it comes to a thin story that felt too stretched out for my liking though this film runs only 109 minutes instead of 140 minutes but I also felt the length of this one a little bit.

 

Don’t get me wrong there is some great cinematography by Mark Wareham of the High Country but its hard to make the high country look boring on film as its such a beautiful area in Victoria and I like Purcell as Molly Johnson she comes across as hard edged but compassionate and it’s a good character but often she feels more talked about than actually shown, I also liked Sam Reid and Jessica De Gouw as an English couple looking to build a life in a frontier town plus Rob Collins is good as well as a local Indigenous man on the run.

 

But again I felt this story was a little too thin and stretched out for me and after a while I got a bit over seeing so many scenes of people talking about Molly or some nice shots of the High Country through the seasons and by the time you got to the end of the film I was just waiting for it to end I’m sorry to say.

 

And so that was The Drovers Wife and it wasn’t really for me I’m afraid, it has its bright spots but its not one I’m going to recommend much, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - Top Gun Maverick (2022)

Top Gun Maverick sees Tom Cruise return as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell who is now a Captain and a test pilot in the US Navy but an Admiral (Ed Harris) has him shipped back to Top Gun at the request of now Admiral Kazansky aka “Iceman” (Val Kilmer) as they want his help regarding a top secret mission that the new Top Gun graduates must complete in 3 weeks but its one thing to Play with the Boys in the classroom its totally another to hit the Danger Zone for real and one of those graduates Rooster (Miles Teller) will not make it easy for Maverick given his father is Goose from the first film.

 

Top Gun Maverick has been 23 months coming as June 25^th 2020 was its original release date but due to the pandemic and Cruise’s commitment to his next 2 Mission Impossible movies it was delayed and it looked like it may never come but finally it has but it also has a lot to live up to given how iconic and original that first film from 1986 was and with so many legacy sequels (the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Mad Max Fury Road, Independence Day Resurgence, Blade Runner 2049, the 2 recent Alien prequels, Rambo Last Blood and Terminator Dark Fate to name as examples) falling flat on their face for me I did have some doubts whether this would deliver.

 

But boy oh boy did it deliver the goods as I have not had this much fun, enjoyed myself or been as buzzed as I have been in a cinema watching this movie in a long time probably not since Dune at the end of last year and there are many reasons this movie delivers:

 

- Firstly the storytelling here (my guess is heavily revised by Cruise’s go to partner in film Christopher McQuarrie) is very good and gives us not only an older Maverick but at heart is still the same devil may care flying Mach 2 with his hair on fire that he is in the first film and it is great to see here especially when many other legacy sequels often use their classic characters as little more than a marketing hook to get audiences in then their shat on in favour of cheap jokes or to be belittled at or to be shoved aside for the newer kids and its been a big reason why I haven’t really cared for the vast majority of the legacy sequels we’ve gotten in the last 10 years or so.

 

Also the film does a great job developing the new crop of graduates who have a personality and style all their own, I particularly like Glen Powell as Hangman, Monica Barbaro as Phoenix and Lewis Pullman (son of the President Bill Pullman) as Bob and in a nice refreshment they don’t feel like a repeat of Iceman, Slider, Goose, Merlin, Viper and Jester from the first film they have a different feel to them but are as fun to watch as well.

 

And lastly on the storytelling front I love the war mission vibe that the film has and again it makes it feel old and new it has a similar feel but is also its own thing and feels a little bit like the 1982 Clint Eastwood film Firefox.

 

- And secondly the flight scenes, my god they are SPECTACULAR! and I cannot stress that enough, more than once I sat there in my seat going “My God, Good God, Holy Shit” as this footage was exhilarating and mind blowing and Cruise and his directed Joseph Kosinski who previously worked together on 2013’s Oblivion have worked damn hard to ensure the flight footage looks as good as it can and they more than deliver especially the cockpit material which was all done for real and not on a green screen with lots of CGI like so many big movies have nowadays nor does it look so dark you need a flashlight to see the scenes all of it looks bright and real and it makes a huge difference.

 

And that action climax is also amazing, beautifully edited by Eddie Hamilton and Chris Lebenzon who also co-edited the first film and it really gets your blood pumping and has you on the edge of your seat while also wanting to pick up your jaw from the floor.

 

And so that was Top Gun Maverick and it is my favourite film of the year so far, this is an exciting, emotional thrill ride that builds on the legacy of a classic, flies its own flight path and does not disappoint this movie was well worth the wait, 4 and a half out of 5.