Director: Marcus Nispel
Running time: 106 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 15
Watched on DVD Monday 7th December 2009.
PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
First of all, I have to admit I have (sort of) seen this movie before. Unfortunately I tried to watch it when I was really tired the first time around and ended up falling asleep about half way through. This time, however, I have the ‘Extended Edition’ on DVD and managed to stay awake all the way through! Set in North America in about 800 AD, that’s 600 years before Columbus, it tells the story of a Viking boy shipwrecked and found by a tribe of Natives. He is brought up as one of their own and grows to be a strong warrior called Ghost. He is somewhat shunned by boys his own age because of the colour of his skin, but he keeps the Viking sword that was found with him and secretly practices with it.
Fifteen years after he was first found, Ghost is out on a hunting trip when he is alerted to the return of the Vikings. They have raided his village and killed almost everyone in it. He tries to fight back but they are too powerful and he is injured escaping them. He goes to the next village and is nursed by Starfire, a young woman and her father, Pathfinder. When he’s rested he warns them to leave the village or they will all be killed, he had seen it before as a boy before the shipwreck. The villagers pack up and leave and Ghost sets off to delay the Vikings and possibly lead them astray. Unknown to him, Starfire has followed him and is in danger of being captured. The leader of the Vikings, Gunnar, has found out who Ghost is and knew his father. I’ll leave it there, not too many spoilers this time.
Made in a style similar to films like, 300 (2006) and Sin City (2005), it almost has the feel of a graphic novel. There is plenty of blood splatter and gore to go around. Fortunately there is not much CGI; a lot of physical stunt work was used, which was nice to see. Decent enough performance from all of the leading cast, honourable mentions go to Karl Urban as Ghost, Moon Bloodgood as Starfire, Russell Means as Pathfinder, Clancy Brown as Gunnar and Jay Tavare as Blackwing.
Unfortunately the plot and pace of this film seems to meander around before it decides to go anywhere. I found it hard to place exactly where the characters were from one minute to the next. The plot seemed to get lost in the middle and only began to take shape again towards the end. Over all, some good stunts, plenty of gore but unfortunately not a lot of direction.
My score: 5.2/10
LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0446013/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/screenplay/vi4020175129/
Running time: 106 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 15
Watched on DVD Monday 7th December 2009.
PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
First of all, I have to admit I have (sort of) seen this movie before. Unfortunately I tried to watch it when I was really tired the first time around and ended up falling asleep about half way through. This time, however, I have the ‘Extended Edition’ on DVD and managed to stay awake all the way through! Set in North America in about 800 AD, that’s 600 years before Columbus, it tells the story of a Viking boy shipwrecked and found by a tribe of Natives. He is brought up as one of their own and grows to be a strong warrior called Ghost. He is somewhat shunned by boys his own age because of the colour of his skin, but he keeps the Viking sword that was found with him and secretly practices with it.
Fifteen years after he was first found, Ghost is out on a hunting trip when he is alerted to the return of the Vikings. They have raided his village and killed almost everyone in it. He tries to fight back but they are too powerful and he is injured escaping them. He goes to the next village and is nursed by Starfire, a young woman and her father, Pathfinder. When he’s rested he warns them to leave the village or they will all be killed, he had seen it before as a boy before the shipwreck. The villagers pack up and leave and Ghost sets off to delay the Vikings and possibly lead them astray. Unknown to him, Starfire has followed him and is in danger of being captured. The leader of the Vikings, Gunnar, has found out who Ghost is and knew his father. I’ll leave it there, not too many spoilers this time.
Made in a style similar to films like, 300 (2006) and Sin City (2005), it almost has the feel of a graphic novel. There is plenty of blood splatter and gore to go around. Fortunately there is not much CGI; a lot of physical stunt work was used, which was nice to see. Decent enough performance from all of the leading cast, honourable mentions go to Karl Urban as Ghost, Moon Bloodgood as Starfire, Russell Means as Pathfinder, Clancy Brown as Gunnar and Jay Tavare as Blackwing.
Unfortunately the plot and pace of this film seems to meander around before it decides to go anywhere. I found it hard to place exactly where the characters were from one minute to the next. The plot seemed to get lost in the middle and only began to take shape again towards the end. Over all, some good stunts, plenty of gore but unfortunately not a lot of direction.
My score: 5.2/10
LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0446013/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/screenplay/vi4020175129/
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