Askeladden: I Dovregubbens hall

I suprisingly enjoyed this movie. Dubbed but good. Cheesy a bit funny and not too serious. Brilliant landscape and pretty Scandinavian woman and good directing.

I went to see this film with two 10 year old girls and since I'm 50 year old male/father I had no expectation to like this film as an adult. However, to my great surprise, I found this film to be very good, full of hidden meanings (analogies to important things to do in life and things not to do), good story, great film production, great sceneries, great music, etc., etc. I will not tell more details to not make any spoilers, but can only say that this film is as good for adults as it is for children. I never expected a Norwegian children film to be this good! It can easily compete with the best Hollywood films!! This is the first time I write to IMDb, but this great story inspired me to write for the first time! I will for sure see this film again and again.. :-) ! VERY recommended!!

I started watching this film assuming I'd move on to something else but was drawn in by the beautiful and unusual scenery (I'm not familiar with the landscape of Norway). The storyline wasn't especially original but contained enough elements of the "modern fantasy film" and a traditional fairy tale to be interesting. Modern elements included anachronistic dialogue and injections of somewhat juvenile humor. The traditional fairy tale elements included episodic encounters with supernatural beings and a series of seemingly useless items picked up by the main character that later come in handy. (There was one item I'd totally forgotten about until came into play at the end of the film in an important way.) I also liked how the brothers ended up working together to accomplish their mission and learned to see their seeming incompetent brother in a different light. The film isn't perfect of course. Some of the dialogue seemed a bit clunky (but I was watching a dubbed version....I have a feeling the dialogue worked better in Norwegian.) The special effects are not bad (though not as slick as some American films) and don't distract. Overall, enjoyable.

They did a great job at building up the suspense in this movie! I'm glad they recorded it with English voice overs. Even if some of the lines seem like they were meant for the younger crowd I think it's a must-see. I don't mind the voice overs when the story is this good. It gives me hope that I can find other quality foreign movies that are re-recorded in English.

First off, I have to say I watched this dubbed into English and I'm not sure how much of this movie gets lost in translation. I got the feeling there were some jokes and play-on-words that got lost. There are also a few references that likely make more sense in their native country.

As for the review, I thought the movie was quite enjoyable overall. Fairy tale stories are a hard sale though. The movie included too many tropes and too many fairy tales, all mushed together. If you go in just wanting to have an escapist viewing, then this won't be a signficant con for the movie. If this is something that really would nag at you, then best not view it.

I think one problem for the movie is the target audience. There are a number of rather disturbing/fightening scenes, that might make it inappropriate for younger viewers. However the overall tone is the kind of whimsical folksiness that appeals to children, and might turn off the teenage crowd.

I would file this one in the check-your-expectations at the door, sit back and relax kind of movie. Don't expect much, and you'll have fun with it.