Review: The Northman

With all of his directed films being critical hits, Robert Eggers has become one of the most interesting film-makers right now.

Debuting with the truly disturbing 'The Witch' followed by the beautifully weird and highly engrossing 'The Lighthouse', anything coming from Eggers I am instantly wanting to see.

No trailers are needed for me and I was excited to see where his next project was going.

There is an aggressive energy about this film both in the performances and the drum-beat heavy score. I was getting a perfect mix of Viking mythology with that vintage Eggers fantasy/dream sequences that give his films a great sense of surrealism.

If you like films like Gladiator, The Revenant, Braveheart, Apocalypto, 300 and are a sucker for a Hamlet/Lion King storyline, then you will eat this up. There are themes of legacy, family, fate and revenge that are explored well.

The violence is brutal in its imagery, yet made to look beautiful by the brilliant cinematography by Jarin Blaschke. The final act felt a bit much for me even by its own standards and the way it wrapped up felt pretty quickly. But there was still a lot of satisfaction in how it concluded its story archs.

Alexander Skarsgard impressed me in the leading role and easily gives a career best for me. You can see his dedication to the role with requires a lot of physical energy to it. Skarsgard looks the part and he does with such control that felt it never felt over-the-top for me.

There was solid support from everyone involved. The threat Claes Bang's character had was good and made him easy to suspect and eventually hate. Nicole Kidman shows she can still bring out the big guns and give us a surprisingly pivotal character and developed nicely within the story. Her screen presence was one of mystery.

Anya Taylor-Joy is back for more with Eggers after her breakthrough in 'The Witch' and did another good job, as did fellow returning collaborator Willem Defoe and Ethan Hawke. We also get a nice bit of added weirdness from Bjork in what was a small yet memorable role.

In terms of an ensemble, this was a strong cast. With there being many sequences involving a fairly large community for authenticity, every cast member played their part to make this an immersive experience.

For a project like this, the production design is naturally of the highest quality. The choice of shooting locations made you really feel the strong winds and unforgiving rain. As mentioned, the camerawork knows when you go wide to appreciate the battle sequences and when to be intimate during those psychological based scenes.

The same can be said for the editing. There was the right amount of hectic in between the moments that gives you time to linger and the beauty of the wide shots that give that perfect cinematic quality.

I had a really good time watching this. It is certainly one of those films whether you like it or not, you cannot take your eyes off it. There is a great sense of spectacle to it and makes it for a worthwhile visit to experience on the big screen. I rarely use this word, but I would happily call this epic in every aspect.

While it may seem outrageous and mad on the surface, there is great beauty in its story, savage violence and overall look. It is certainly Eggers' most accessible film to date and is probably a great ice-breaker in seeing what his style is all about. A lot of its department deserved some recognition and I hope it gains a lot of momentum for general audiences to give this a chance.

Rating: 8/10