The Northman (2022)

I went into this one completely blind. I wasn't sure what to expect but hey, it's got Viking stuff in it so why not. It stars Alexander Skarsgard who I didn't recognize until about halfway through the film. I kept thinking he looked so familiar. Then I put the pieces together and realized it was Vampire Eric from True Blood. He got ripped!

The story is actually based on an old 12th Century Danish tale, Prince Amleth of Jutland, which, in turn, Shakespeare based Hamlet upon. There are differences between the two but the core of the story remains the same, uncle kills father, son flees to come back another day to kill uncle, etc. (Not a spoiler, just the generic plot of Hamlet). So this one follows a similar path but with a Viking twist.

I did have one complaint, which is one that kills me, in that the accents are so all over the place, especially with Nicole Kidman. She couldn't decide on which accent she wanted and it was so distracting to me. The same thing holds true to me with Fargo as I know a real Minnesotan accent and the actors trying to replicate it sounded idiotic, IMHO.

If you like grunting, yelling, and primordial testosterone, this one is for you. It definitely didn't lack this component. I do have a small complaint about the battle scenes, as well. Whenever there was a battle sequences, the enemies would come at the lead but in a way that left them wide open for attack. The fight choreography, outside of the final sequence, was half-assed.

All this being said, it was a fairly entertaining film. It's not one that I need to revisit with frequency but I did enjoy it.

For recommendation I'd give it a thumbs up but only if you want to see a lot of blood and guts and grunting and yelling. HA!