Northmen: Les Derniers Vikings

'NORTHMEN: A VIKING SAGA': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A Viking action flick, about vikings trapped in enemy territory, directed by Claudio Fah (who also helmed the direct to video sequels 'HOLLOW MAN 2' and 'SNIPER: RELOADED') and written by Mattias Bauer and Bastian Zach (who also wrote the Swiss B movie horror flick 'ONE WAY TRIP 3D'). The film stars Tom Hopper, Ed Skrein, Charlie Murphy, Ryan Kwanten, James Norton, Ken Duken, Anatole Tubman, Johan Hegg, Leo Gregory and others. I thought it was entertaining enough, to pass the time with, but nothing special or memorable.

The film tells the story of a group of vikings, who become stranded in unfamiliar territory; when their boat crashes, on the coast of Alba in a horrific storm. They're pursued by mercenaries, sent after them by the King of Alba, as they try to make their way to a Viking settlement. They also, unintentionally, kidnap the King's daughter (Murphy). Things become very violent, quickly.

The movie has some cool action scenes; especially considering the budget, and weak storyline. The performances aren't bad either; the directing is decent and the film looks great. If Fah had just had a better script to work with (I blame Bauer and Zach), this could have been a thrilling action flick. I really wanted to like the characters, thanks to the actors, but had no reason to. I also could not get into the story, or what was going on at all, despite cool fight scenes and decent thrills. There's definitely reasons to like things about this film; but it's mostly a miss and mediocre.

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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.

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.

"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.

During a storm, a Viking vessel sinks and the survivors are stranded on the coast of Scotland. They climb a cliff and are attacked by an army; however they defeat the enemy but one of them escapes. They find a noble woman, Inghean (Charlie Murphy), and the leader of the Vikings Asbjorn (Tom Hopper) decides to keep her to get a ransom to go to the Viking settlement Danelagh. They stumble with the Christian monk Conall (Ryan Kwanten) that helps them. Meanwhile the escapee reaches his kingdom and the king sends a group of cruel mercenaries under the command of Hjorr (Ed Skrein) and his henchman Bovarr (Anatole Taubman) to hunt the Vikings down. But Hjorr and Bovarr actually intend to kill Inghean and when they reach the Vikings, Inghean learns the true intention of Hjorr and feels that her only chance to survive is to team up with Asbjorn and his warriors.

"Northmen - A Viking Saga" is a highly entertaining adventure, with a full of action story, charismatic characters and great villains. The direction is tight, the cast has good performance and the fight choreography, locations, costumes, and special effects are excellent. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Northmen - A Viking Saga"