The Northman
Added 2022-04-22 05:38:44 +0000 UTCJust saw it. Working on editing the review as we speak. Thoughts?
Comments
Disappointed. Absolutely stunning visually, but the story was a big shoulder shrug. I’m glad he got to make it, but I think his storytelling has declined from The Witch. Thought Kidman and Taylor-Joy made an impact with what they were given. (Really one scene for Kidman, but she nailed it.)
Jim Barnes
2022-04-27 00:23:25 +0000 UTCIt's coming out on VOD in about two weeks - will wait till then.
Brian Wright
2022-04-26 22:44:05 +0000 UTCI agree with you Jared. While maybe I can't call it authentic in the way The Lighthouse or The Witch was with its rich period detailed, I did feel totally immersed in the brutal yet fantastical world of the film. It reminded me quite a bit of The Green Knight just a lot more violent and with a much weaker 3rd act.
Tyler Shobe
2022-04-22 20:28:44 +0000 UTCI haven't seen it yet, I will soon though. I love Robert Eggers.
Jestergambit
2022-04-22 11:43:58 +0000 UTCYeah I agree completely. I was prepared for something much more stripped down and straightforward than I ended up getting. The wolf scene with Dafoe, the scene with Bjork, the cave scene with kind of Dafoe lol. Loved all that shit. I really hope this movie does well because I was really surprised with the amount of risks they let Eggers take, and I want more movies like this in the future.
Jackson Littlewood
2022-04-22 09:15:54 +0000 UTCI like it but less than his other two films. For me the Northman is probably the most psychedelic of the three both aesthetically and thematically, which I really enjoyed. I also thought it was a pretty clean script for the most part. I just wish there were more attempts to subvert the general Hamlet narrative because I think they actually took a lot of risks in terms of the aesthetic. I think Eggers is one of the better writers we have working today so I wanted to see what kind of narrative risks he’d add to Hamlet, and there wasn’t much. I felt like the climactic tension was stifled because of the inevitability of the conclusion. But overall I really liked it. I wanted more narrative risks, but I appreciated that Eggers made a pretty violent 70 million dollar movie with an ayahuasca-like initiation ceremony and a Midsommar-like mushroom trip. I was worried it wouldn’t be sufficiently weird for my taste and I was pleasantly surprised.
Jackson Littlewood
2022-04-22 09:05:07 +0000 UTCInteresting, I actually found myself drawn into the setting because the immersion was subjective to the main character’s mind instead of objectively watching him the way we watch Thomas and Thomasin. His contradictory role as both an observer and participant in the violence anchored me in the world and its lore. I do agree that Eggers’ voice as a filmmaker isn’t as strong or unique as in the other two movies. I felt it more in some third act screenplay choices I can’t spoil, but also I don’t wanna blame him because that might be the result of a bigger studio interference.
Jared Angcanan
2022-04-22 07:35:01 +0000 UTCUnrelated to the movie, why the fuck did my phone get notified so fucking loud at 3 am for an amber alert? Like bitch, I'm asleep. What am I going to do?
Tyler Shobe
2022-04-22 07:33:30 +0000 UTCOverall I'm happy with what I got knowing full well corners were cut in order to appease a more worried set of producers. There's still some of his most out there ideas in here and I'm glad they let him keep his distinct dialogue style which has personally always been a big draw to his work for me personal. Wish it didn't so clearly affect the ending of the film which was lackluster to say the least and I wish there were more moments like the wolf scene with Dafoe, just really fucking weird shit that pushes the audience. So going in knowing I was getting a Eggers movie where he had a lot of eyes watching his back, I'm glad I got something I enjoyed watching overall even if it is a step down from the last 2 films.
Tyler Shobe
2022-04-22 07:26:14 +0000 UTCI mean I can just point to his two previous films. They are so rooted in their time, with an objective sense of immersion. this is far too self-aware for it to feel authentic, for me. This was such a nosedive, compared to the first two films. It drained all the power out of this wonderful director, and replaced it with expensive costumes and overwrough research...that seems to be more boasting, drawing attention to itself...rather than being a part of an authentic world....like in the Witch, and in The Lighthouse.
Deepfocuslens
2022-04-22 07:13:23 +0000 UTCI’m stoked for the video then lol. Do you have any recs for any movies that you feel got it better?
Jared Angcanan
2022-04-22 06:04:39 +0000 UTCI felt it was the opposite of authentic personally.
Deepfocuslens
2022-04-22 06:02:53 +0000 UTCAlso, as a fan of Norse mythology, I was very pleasantly surprised at the level of passion and authenticity for that genre and that culture’s relationship with nature
Jared Angcanan
2022-04-22 06:02:16 +0000 UTCShakespeare meets Conan. I love that. haha
Deepfocuslens
2022-04-22 06:02:02 +0000 UTCJust saw it too! I’m still digesting it,so my mind could change, but I think I like it more than The VVitch but less than The Lighthouse. Overall, I thought it was visually captivating and sonically full-bodied. The writing could have been less spoon-feedy in the third act, but since the vibe was an animalistic, in-your-face, “Shakespeare meets Conan” type of vibe, I didn’t mind so much. Some scenes were a bit too dark, even though I saw it in a Dolby Theater. The performances were solid, especially Skarsgard and the background people.
Jared Angcanan
2022-04-22 06:01:13 +0000 UTC
