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.
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