The taut adventure film Northmen a Viking Saga delivers a bloody Norsemen story with no-stop action. The story may not be new to you especially if you have watched a lot of westerns, but I do like the characters, the chase and the combat. The costumes give the look of Viking warriors, the make-up brings some realism to the sliced up fighters and the cinematography of the locations where it was shot stunning and picturesque. In all the production value proves above par and the acting follows suit.
A band of Vikings fleeing their homeland get shipwrecked on the shore of the Scottish Coast. Lead by Valli (Johan Hegg) the group finds themselves in a predicament, they are on a shallow beach below a cliff with the tide coming in and no place to go but up. Following a dangerous climb to the top, they are attacked by Scottish soldiers who are accompanying Inghean (Charlie Murphy) the daughter of King Dunchaid (Danny Keogh). One Scottish soldier escapes the battle and Inghean gets taken by the Vikings as a prisoner for ransom.
Following the battle Asbjorn (Tom Hopper), son of Valli, takes over the leadership of the Vikings. When the King gets word that his daughter has been captured he sends his band of mercenaries called “the wolves” to free Inghean. The pack of violent fighters are led by merciless leaders Hjorr (Ed Skirn) and Bovarr (Anatole Taubman) who will stop at nothing for money and a good battle.
The film goes on from there showing the Vikings making an attempt to get to a settlement that has been established in the South of Scotland. Director Claudio Fäh does an admirable job of establishing his characters, dressing them to look like Norsemen, keeping his fighting scenes packed with action and moving them across the vast landscape depicted to be Scotland. He uses his camera’s wisely getting close-ups of the conflicts and wide shots of the highlands and valleys that have to be traversed by the group. Using a good measure of special effects, CGI and blue screen he’s able to bring realism to the storyline.
Tom Hopper leads a very good cast of proud and loyal Vikings as Asbjorn. Tall, blonde haired and very Scandinavian, he fits the mold nicely and acts like he came from a long line of Vikings. He puts his Asbjorn through his paces trying to save the princess from an untimely death while getting his group to safety.
In support, Charlie Murphy does a good job of swinging an ax and shooting a crossbow as Inghean. You can see she has a lot of talent in hand to hand combat working on the screen proving that she’s got guts and strength to carry the demanding role. I like the way she brings her character along very defensive at first then cooperating when she realizes she’s in danger from both sides.
Northmen A Viking Saga has been rated R by the MPAA for violence throughout. The violence does include some ghastly slice and dice sword fights and a few heads roll. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that are inappropriate for adolescents.
Northmen a Viking Saga opens in theaters this weekend and available for Digital HD Download. On August 11th the film will be available on Blu-ray and DVD. The DVD/Blu-ray has a bonus feature “Northmen: A Look Inside a Viking Saga”. The special feature has interviews that were done with the cast in costume. Each goes into their roles and also some comments on the production.
FINAL ALNALYSIS: A good adventurous film with a lot of action. (B-)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Tom Hopper, Ed Skrein, Ryan Kwanten, Johan Hegg, James Norton, Charlie Murphy, Darrel D’Silva, Anatole Taubman, Leo Gregory, Ken Duken, Danny Keogh
Directed by: Claudio Fäh
Genre: Action, Adventure
MPAA Rating: R for violence throughout
Running Time: 1 hr. 37 min.
Release Date: July 31, 2015
Distributed by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
