A Saga Viking

I watched Northmen in a sneak preview in a German cinema, so please don't wonder at my language skills.

I really like such epic movies so i had great expectations. The characters are distinguishable and the main actor has the necessary charisma. The plot is easy, so don't expect to much ! Thats the only thing what i dislike about the movie.

The cinematography and the high-resolution graphics with great recordings from swiss and south African landscape create a heated atmosphere.

Especially the character of a monk is well acted.

All in all the movie is no must see because of the simple story, but the distincitv characters, the good recordings of the landscape, and well acted fighting scenes make the movie to a Sunday evening activity.

Sometimes the simple things seem to be the most difficult. Like finding your way back home. Then again, even with all the transportation possibilities today some have issues reaching their goal, let alone back when this movie is supposedly playing. It's a decent effort into the viking territory and it has the flair of movies from the 80s, when a group/handful of guys were trying to reach a destination or just try to stay alive.

The effects are good, the camera is nice (copying the middle land moves we've learned to love from Peter Jackson, relishing on sights and so forth), the acting is OK too, considering the genre this is playing at and all the clichés involved. It won't be hard to guess what will be coming up most of the time, mixing a lot of known and working formulas, this is a pleasant time waster ...

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.

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.

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.