Blood feud
THE NORTHMAN Cert 15 ★★★ In cinemas now
THERE is too much method and not enough madness in director Robert Eggers’s blood-splattered take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Here, the acclaimed director of The Witch and The Lighthouse turns to the Scandinavian legend that inspired the Bard’s greatest tragedy.
“I will avenge you, Father. I will save you, Mother. I will kill you, Fjölnir” is the oft-repeated mantra of hunky ninth-century Viking prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard).
Sadly, this is pretty much all the plot Eggers has to offer, as our muscle-bound action hero goes after the uncle (Claes Bang) who murdered his dad (Ethan Hawke) and married his mum (Nicole Kidman).
With all the Shakespearean embellishments removed, this beautifully shot epic is a formulaic revenge flick which only perks up during the occasional mad interlude. Although, admittedly, the first one is deliriously, wonderfully out of its tree.
Boy prince Amleth (Oscar Novak) is celebrating a sort of Viking bar mitzvah that involves a jester in a gimp mask (Willem Dafoe), ceremonial farting and a pagan temple filled with hallucinogenic fumes.
Afterwards, Amleth emerges into the cold air of a Nordic forest to witness Uncle Fjölnir beheading his old man. He then escapes and grows into a buff Viking warrior (Skarsgard) who slices up locals in “the land of the Rus”.
The massacre of a village (in one continuous shot) establishes his action hero credentials but makes him very difficult to root for.
From here, the action moves to Iceland as Amleth tracks his recently usurped uncle and mother to a remote farm, poses as a slave and teams up with Anya Taylor-joy’s “spell speaker” Olga.
More wacky diversions follow before the inevitable showdown by an erupting volcano, but the thin characters and humourless script fail to catch fire.
A formulaic revenge flick that only perks up in the occasional mad interlude