The Northman (Mini-Review)

The Northman is a historical fiction movie about a man seeking revenge. As a young child Amleth was a Viking warrior prince. But after his father was murdered by his uncle and he was forced to flee, Amleth's life changed. Instead of being raised as royalty, he was raised as a berserker. It is only upon seeing a Seerees that Amleth again focused on avenging his father and saving his mother. The Northman was released in 2022. It was directed by Robert Eggers. It stars Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, and Anya Taylor-Joy.

This movie could have easily been titled "Alexander Skarsgård is Shirtless for Two Hours" as his top is nearly never covered. He is also usually covered in blood and sweat making him extra appealing for me. He is a fearsome force as you'd expect as he was raised a berserker. If you don't know: the term berserk comes from the warriors known as berserkers.

The movie also has more to it than a topless Alexander. Amleth's path to vengeance is bloody and well calculated. He doesn't just swing his sword and bodies fall, he plans each attack. It would actually be stupid for Amleth to approach his revenge that way. Claes Bang, his uncle, thinks that Amleth was killed as a child. This due to one of his men lying about killing the prince.

I loved the Nordic runes that are used throughout the movie. Each time there's a change of location, a card with Nordic runes and their translations are shown. To me that added a lot of flavor to the movie. It really helped me to embrace the setting. The start of the movie also sets the tone. A narrator calls to the Norn (similar to the Fates in Greek Mythology) before telling his tale. The opening narration is told with an erupting volcano in the background which makes everything feel ominous.

Queen Gudrún has a compelling backstory. I sadly can't get into it as I'm trying to keep this review spoiler free as possible. What I can say is that her backstory makes her extremely human which isn't something an adult Amleth is ready to face. When we're younger we think of our parents as perfect people but then we eventually are shown that they're very much human. Depending on one's parents, that point can come very soon or very late. Then we have to decide if they're still good people and their only flaw is that they aren't perfect.

Olga is a sorceress that helps Amleth on his revenge. Along the way they develop a bond that turns into romance. During a chunk of the movie I thought that Olga might have other motivations to helping him that didn't involve anything good. I thought the fact she is a slave and he was from a family that enslaved people meant she was out for her own revenge. Basically after the opening I was looking for anything that could go wrong to go wrong.

I would recommend The Northman to those looking for a good historical fiction movie that focuses on Vikings. I would also recommend The Northman to those looking for a good action movie. Finally, I would recommend The Northman to those wishing to see a shirtless Alexander Skarsgård for two hours.