You had me in the first 20 minutes… and then lost me in the remaining 70.
Valhalla Rising is a 2009, 6 chapter, Danish film - directed by
Nicolas Winding Refn. Our protagonist (Mads Mikkelsen) is a one eyed, mute, Norse warrior living in 1000 AD - appropriately named... wait for it… One Eye. The first chapter “Wrath”, shows that One Eye is currently being held prisoner by a group of Vikings - who chain him to a pole and force him to fight to the death with the clan’s other captives. It’s quickly proven that One Eye is a
bad-ass, butt kicking, warrior from HELL. Obviously, he has never been defeated. His only companion is “The Boy” (Maarten Stevenson), a boy slave who brings him his meals. One Eye defeats their captors, and the two set off onto a seemingly pointless “journey into darkness”.
This movie is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Just watch 10 seconds of the trailer, and you know you’re in for a visual treat. With shot after shot of overly color-corrected beauty images of Scotland, how can you go wrong? Not having enough interesting content, that’s how. My co-worker (and all around movie lover) Dan, warned me that this movie wasn’t exactly going to be the gorey viking slaughter film that I was expecting. Boy, was he right. The initial story is compelling and the first 20 minutes of the movie are jam packed with brutal violence - including a barehanded disembowelment.
But once our pair escapes their captors, the film drastically slows down. I enjoyed this movie, and I can respect it for what it is - but I DID lose interest before the halfway point. Getting mixed reviews, this movie has been called “unbearably self-important” - Berlingske Tidende. The most impressive thing I took away from Valhalla Rising - was Mads Mikkelsen’s transformation into One Eye. Opposite end of the spectrum from his quiet, nerdy character in 2012’s “The Hunt” - but still not as good of a movie. Coming in at current #24 -
Valhalla Rising.
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