The Northman (2022) – Review/ Summary (with Spoilers)

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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Blood, honor, love, and betrayal keep you engaged for over 2 hours in this epic revenge tale.

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Director(s)	Robert Eggers
Screenplay By	Sjón, Robert Eggers
Date Released	4/21/2022
Where To Watch	In Theaters
Genre(s)	Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Family, War
Duration	2 Hours and 16 Minutes
Content Rating	Rated R
Noted Cast
Amleth	Alexander Skarsgård
Olga	Anya Taylor-Joy
King Aurvandil	Ethan Hawke
Fjolnir	Claes Bang
Queen Gudrun	Nicole Kidman

Film Summary

When Amelth was a child, his father, King Aurvandil was murdered by his brother Fjolnir. On that day, Ameleth escaped with his life and committed himself to revenge as he became consumed with hatred. Years later, after becoming a man, a notable warrior in his own right, he allows himself to become enslaved to get within reach of his uncle to avenge his father, rescue his mother, and take back the kingdom that was rightfully his.

Things To Note

• Reason(s) for Film Rating: Cursing (If there is, it isn’t incessant), Violence (Grotesque imagery – decapitated heads, guts spilling out of abdomen; Blood; open wounds; harm against animals), Sexual Content (Butts – men and women; Breasts and frontal nudity from women; simulated sex), Miscellaneous (Occasional vomiting)
• Is there an end credit or mid-credit scene?: There isn’t an end credit or mid-credit scene

Character Descriptions

Please Note: This character guide is not an exhaustive list of every cast member, and character descriptions may contain what can be considered spoilers.

Amleth

Born a joyful prince but later stripped down to a soldier for another kingdom, then voluntarily becoming a slave, Amleth’s joy and tears were taken from him at an early age. Thus leaving a hulk of a man still capable of love, compassion, and glee but clouded too much by vengeance to ever make any of those three his prominent goal.

Olga

A worshipper of Earth magic, Olga is a pale blonde who originally was a casualty of the army that Amleth’s associates conquered. However, thanks to Amleth, she is given a second chance at life, and she tries to push the idea Amleth could have a second chance himself if he lets go of his need for revenge.

King Aurvandil

Nicknamed the War-Raven, King Auryandil’s passions mainly were violence, riches, and whores. But, what is a man without an heir? Hence, to some degree, he settled with Queen Gudrun, who made the best of the situation.

Fjolnir

Aurvandil’s brother who was one of his top soldiers but wasn’t enough of a man to maintain what his brother created. However, that didn’t stop him from enjoying what he could keep from his brother’s conquests, including his wife.

Queen Gudrun

Like Olga, Queen Gudrun wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth and had hoped beyond what was initially offered to her in life. But, through sacrifice and suffering, she made deals to have, even if fleeting, some sense of joy.

Review

Highlights

Olga and Amleth

By no means is the goal of The Northman to give you an epic romance. However, there is no denying the impact Olga has on expanding Almeth’s desires in life beyond the murder of his uncle. She provides him his first taste of companionship, an ally, and a reprieve from the hatred that is so deeply rooted in his heart. She even tempts him to free himself from the obligation he feels towards avenging his father, and through her love, you can imagine him letting things go to learn what it means to be happy without someone’s blood on his hands. Never mind, unlike his father, love a woman for who she is and not purely for the pleasure she provides.

The Fight Scenes

While there isn’t the type of action that will make you flinch, there is no denying between the choreography and special effects, you will sometimes grimace at the sights you are given. Be it watching people’s heads cut off, open wounds, or not even the damage, but fights themselves. Now, I’ll admit, sometimes it seems they are doing more than catching their breath in some moments and trying to build tension, which does dull the moment. However, most fight scenes, war scenes I should say, definitely help the movie trudge along.

It Keeps Things Interesting Over Two Hours

Two hours and 16 minutes is a long time for a revenge tale. Especially considering most revenge tales don’t have the target of the hatred handled until the end. Thankfully, The Northman presents various moments and storylines to gracefully carry you to the end. The aforementioned romance between Olga and Amleth makes you forget about the time. Also, there is Amleth’s time working for another army and killing with them before he meets Olga.

Following that is his enslavement and doing reconnaissance on Fjolnir’s new home and family. Including investigating how Queen Gudrun, Amleth’s mother, has dealt with becoming Fjolnir’s queen and giving birth to his son. Alongside that, there is mysticism and visions and more than enough action sequences if all you wanted was to see people die by someone’s hands or a sword.

Combined, while you may check your watch or phone towards the latter half of the film once or twice, it is only when Amleth makes it clear his revenge is nigh, that you feel like he’s dragging it out.

On The Fence

You’ll Wish This Had More Subtitles

As you can tell by the names of many characters, The Northman might be an English language film, but it is drawing from a non-English source. Because of this, the accents and how low Skarsgard sometimes speaks, often you’ll feel like you missed something and have to hone your ears to pick up what’s being said.

Now, it is never so bad you feel like you are missing the big picture or who is who. However, if you are one for details, this could frustrate your viewing experience.

Overall

Our Rating: Positive (Worth Seeing)

If you can get past dialog that is sometimes discernable, then the barrier of entry is low for The Northman. It has action, romance, familiar betrayal, and some light nudity and sexual content if you need that every now and again. Hence the positive rating and us saying this is worth seeing.

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