The Northman Movie Review:
The Northman is the live-action lion king movie, I really wanted to see. I saw 'The Northman' movie yesterday and it's time to review it. The Northman stars Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk and Willem Dafoe. It is directed by Robert Eggers of such films as 'The Lighthouse' and 'The Witch'.
For those who don't know, the film is about a young prince named Amleth, who's on a revenge quest to kill his uncle after he betrayed his father and took his mother captive.
I know what you're thinking that sounds like the most basic revenge plot of all time but really it's not.
First of all, the lion king copied Amleth and Amleth might have taken inspiration we don't really know from the older story of Amleth which this one is based on. But not only that The Northman always evolves as it goes on keeping things fresh by adding new twists and turns to its story.
I'm a big fan of both The Witch and The Lighthouse and with The Northman, Robert Eggers proves that he's not just a one-trick pony who can make creepy horror movies and that he's more than that. He's a skilled director with a good eye for atmosphere acting and just putting a movie together.
The movie has way more action than any Egger's film before and I think it's done really well. We don't get like a bunch of choppy shots that make you feel like you're fighting the cameraman. Instead, we get a lot of long and wide shots, and personally, that's how I like my action being shot.
Action:
Just like the movie, the action is visceral, glory, and hard-hitting and by no means it's for kids or your grandma. That's right this is a no-grandma flick unless your grandma's into that to which I say you got a freaking cool grandma.
Let's talk about Alexander Skarsgård, our leading man, an actor who until now I've always associated with like that Tarzan movie where Christoph Waltz uses a rosary like nunchucks. It feels like he's never really been given a chance to fully shine until now because he's fantastic. I don't know if drama is just his genre or if Robert Eggers just knows how to use him well but this is one of the best performances I've seen all year.
The reason he's good in this movie is the same reason Annie Taylor Joy is and that's because they can say so much with their expressions without even saying a lot of lines. Like, Amleth is a quiet character for the most part but he still says a lot. As I said, Annie Taylor - Joy's great but like duh the sky's blue birds fly yada yada. I mean the same for Nicole Kidman these things are known they should be obvious.
Cinematography:
Just like every Robert Egger's film the cinematography is awesome. I think Eggers and cinematographerJarin Blaschke worked beautifully together. The light is placed below the actors a lot and it gives us a really creepy feel and a really strong key light gives us lots of light but also lots of darkness.
I think a quality that makes a cinematographer great is not only where to place the light but where to place the darkness and Blaschke does that phenomenally. I've heard some people say that Amleth doesn't have good character development! What did you even watch in the movie?
I think not only is the film visually creative and unique but the story to me at least feels unique in the world of revenge plots. It's a commentary on revenge hatred and fate and by the end, I really liked what they did with Amleth as a character.
The second act might be a bit slow for some but personally, I was just enjoying the set design, the direction, and the cinematography so much. It was more than enough to entertain me until the story picked back up. It's probably my second favorite movie of the year up with Batman movie.
Ratings:
My Ratings - 8 out of 10 IMDB Rating - 7.1 out of 10 Audience Rating - 8.5 out of 10
P.S. Lead image was designed by me on Canva. The rest of the photos are screenshots taken from IMDB.
Thank you guys so much for checking out this review. I would like to know below in the comment section if have you seen The Northman movie.
