I Vichinghi

Much better than I expected. I went it prepared for a low budget, made-for-TV film. But no, this is a very well made film.

We follow the tale of a band of exiled Vikings as they are pursued across Scotland by a mercenary war band.

Good writing, good acting, memorable characters and good visual effects. It also benefits from excellent fight choreography, great costumes, wonderful mountainous scenery and lots of well-done gritty battles. If you love medieval adventure, definitely give this one a try.

My only complaint for this movie was that the size of the pursuing mercenary warband kept changing. It was hard to tell if they were 8 or 80. This was particularly noticeable at the battle at the bridge. Perhaps it was a vanguard force ahead of a main force, but the director should have made that more clear.

In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. This movie was very similar to the Clive Owen King Arthur movie. Similar style and tone and characters. If you enjoyed that film, you'll probably like this one.

For a medieval fantasy flick, Northmen does look the part. It has fine cinematography and quite gory battle as the characters literally spend bulk of the movie running and fighting in nice vistas. They, however, lack the appeal or novelty to set up a grand tale it's meant to be, making the tour into foreign land a loud yet bland one.

Story revolves around a group of Vikings, or Northmen, as they journey through unfamiliar territory. The group has internal strife and ambition for riches, but none of their story is fully fleshed out. The motives or back stories, even for the antagonist role, are often glossed over. Furthermore, the movie introduces many typical characters such lost princess and the enigmatic priest, each with their own equally monotonous issue.

With stack of characters, it's unfortunate that none of them is actually interesting. The actors work with passable acting, but the script is basically told while they are in constant running. It buries the story as they roar and slash their way through. When the supposed dramatic scenes play out, chances are audience wouldn't be invested on these characters.

It does possess good visual, camera work and design. There are set pieces that offer decent skirmish, both in daylight or night time. Credit when credit is due, most movies with fantasy theme often become blurry as the fight continues after dawn, but Northmen gives good graphic and lighting even in these instances. Action is presentable as well, bit crude at times, but fits the theme nonetheless.

As an action movie, it benefits from above average presentation, however the story doesn't venture beyond the realm of mediocrity.

"Northmen: A Viking Saga" does offer some good, solid entertainment. And it is a movie that appeals mostly to a male audience. And chances are that if you like the "Vikings" series, then you would also find enjoyment in "Northmen: A Viking Saga".

However, the story, albeit straight forward and very simplistic, offers very little in terms of layering a profound movie experience. Why? Well, because the storyline was just too simple, truth be told. The movie is about a group of marooned vikings washed ashore and having to get from point A to point B in order to reach a safe haven. And the path between points A and B is a perilous one, of course.

What works very well in the movie is the fighting and action sequences, as they are nicely choreographed and equally nicely executed on the screen. But also the costumes and outfits were working well in favor of the movie, because they had a very authentic feel to them. And the environment where the movie was filmed also added a great deal of enjoyment to the movie.

The characters in the movie were nicely detailed, although most of them were very generic in terms of what has previously been seen in the viking movie genre. That being said, don't get me wrong, because the people cast to portray the characters did good jobs with their characters, despite not having the most elaborate of scripts to work with. And while the soothsayer character was indeed interesting, it just seemed a bit out of place, with those supernatural powers, as it turned the movie into a fantasy movie, and not really adhering to the reality of the age in which the movie was taking place. A good or bad thing? Well, I did enjoy it, as it was nicely done. But had they opted for something else, then the movie would have had a whole other atmosphere to it. And also the monk character was somewhat of a sore thumb, especially since he was apparently so much more martially trained than everyone else. It just seemed a bit out of place.

"Northmen: A Viking Saga" is an enjoyable movie for sure. Just don't expect anything extraordinary. And while it is not fully up to the level of the "Vikings" series, then it is still a good addition to the viking movie genre.

running. fights. vikings. and a last scene who impose a prequel. not surprising but decent and this could be a real good point. because it respects expectations of its public. an action film in clothes of history. inspired but the series Vikings. using, in not bad manner, a lot of clichés. remembering Lord of Ring in few scenes. and being an interesting try to propose not a new story but a decent exercise to tell it. all is well known. but the desire to be more than one of many action movies , proposing a story of survive, friendship and crumbs of faiths is a nice option. and the acting, far to be impressive, is not real bad. in essence, a correct cake respecting , in each detail, the recipes of genre. and the flavor of fairy tale, and the references to Odyssey are virtues for a film about vikings and theirs adventures in foreign land. only strange fact - maybe the title . but the new parts of a possible trilogy could save appearances.

Excellent cinematography and great cast elevate this well above the usual fair. The performances are strong throughout and Tom Hopper is a great leading man in the style of Chris Hemsworth. Overall a very good adventure movie directed with great flair by Claudio Fah. Looks like a much bigger budget than it was. Fight scenes handled with confidence. The production values were consistently high class, with notable scenes in forests, caves and swamps all looking suitably authentic and not remotely TV standard like so many other things. Comparisons to the TV show seem unfair as this stands on its own merits as a story. The TV show often feels padded and stretched whereas this moves at a good pace and doesn't outstay its welcome.