DIRECTED BY-:
Robert Eggers
STARRING-:
Alexander Skarsgård
Anya Taylor-Joy
Claes Bang
YEAR OF RELEASE-:
2022
PREMISE-:
A young Viking prince is on a quest to avenge his father's murder.
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.
THE NEGATIVES-: - I personally wasn’t very satisfied whenever the fantasy-fate stuff kept actually affecting the plot of the movie. It felt like a cheap and lazy way of progressing the events. For instance—:
- Amleth being reminded of his goal and being told his destiny by a random witch.
- A vixen guiding Amleth to the he-witch who then guides him to the sword.
- Amleth not being able to unsheathe his sword at dawn because apparently it can only be used during the night.
- A flock of ravens LUCKILY removing Amleth’s restraint ropes.
- Amleth getting a vision of his heirs at a very CRITICAL moment in the story.
- Did the men who were transporting the slaves to Iceland not keep a count of the number of slaves on their boat? If they WERE keeping a count, how did they not notice an extra slave (Amleth)? If they WEREN'T keeping count, well WHY weren't they?
- It wasn't really smart of Amleth to reveal his plan of killing Fjölnir to Olga so early on in their relationship (RIGHT AFTER they've reached Iceland), because there was no way he could've been sure that she wouldn't snitch about to it Fjölnir to get favors / privileges from him.
- It was a bit weird how there wasn't even ONE guard guarding the house where the male slaves were kept, allowing Amleth to pretty effortlessly sneak out every night.
- On the night Amleth gets the sword, it's VERY lucky that even after Amleth growls (to scare Rakki) and unsheathes his sword halfway through, Fjölnir (who's inches away from this noise), doesn't bother to turn around the corner and check what his dog was barking at.
- How exactly was Olga able to rescue Amleth? Why was there no guard where Amleth was being held captive?
- It's CONVENIENT that the boat which was originally for Thorir, came ashore AT THE EXACT TIME Amleth and Olga decide to leave Iceland.
- Amleth CONVENIENTLY focuses on Olga’s neck wound once they get ON the boat, instead of when they were by the hot spring.
- We're meant to believe that Amleth decided to stay back and kill Fjölnir because he thought that if Fjölnir got to know about Olga's pregnancy, he will have Olga and the kids hunted down. So, before having the vision of his heirs, did Amleth just assume that Fjölnir will not hunt him and Olga anymore? Why was Olga's pregnancy the thing that changed Amleth’s mind? Like, Amleth should’ve known that Fjölnir would’ve hunted them anyway, regardless of whether he had kids or not. It's absurd for Amleth to think that him and Olga were perfectly safe BEFORE Olga got pregnant.
- Both Amleth and Fjölnir CONVENIENTLY kill each other at the same time.
THE POSITIVES-: - The performances by everyone in the cast were great.
- The costumes, makeup, set designs, and dialogues all felt very realistic and authentic to the time period and the setting.
- While it didn't stand out much on its own, the background music did a great job at complementing the screenplay and successfully conveying the emotions of the characters.
- The cinematography of the film was undoubtedly its best aspect. From gorgeous wide-shots of vast landscapes, to mesmerizingly haunting ritual dances, and elaborately detailed one-shot rage-filled raid attacks, every scene was captured with equal perfection and immaculate skill.
- Even though they probably would've benefitted from a faster pace, I really liked the brutal, barbaric, and gory nature of the action sequences.
RATING: 6/10
|
Comments