 Mmm, the Valhalla are not the Valhalla. That is the Odin. Ooh, that's a hot mug, guys! Hey guys, this is my review for The Northman, the newest film written and directed by Robert Eggers. I didn't expect to be walking into a Viking version of Hamlet. Fate has no mercy. That's almost the feeling you're gonna get from watching this movie. What is a cool way to tell Hamlet in a different way aside from something like this? You killed my father. Big mistake. The Northman follows Alex Gasgard's character who watches his father be murdered by his uncle in front of him and he escapes the island of his father's rule, swears to save his mother and come back and kill his uncle. Skip many years into the future, Alex Gasgard is now this massive man of a man with an absolutely horrific back posture. He's going on this tirade of raids with different Vikings and whatnot, but then he finds a clue, a lead, to where his uncle is. His uncle has now gone to Iceland and is ruling over this tiny little area, so he pretends to be a slave to get onto this island to enact his revenge. Along the way, he meets people like Anya Taylor-Joy, who is a fellow slave who has her own tricks and abilities about her. All the while this is going on, there are lots of references to Viking culture, mythology, even the religion in a way. There are a lot of these elements that are displayed in the film both visually and kind of spoken, but the visual element of this film is what will definitely get you into the seat and that is also helpful to Robert Eggers, who is a visual director. If you've seen that with films like The Witch and obviously The Lighthouse, this is definitely I would say the least kooky version of a movie that he's ever made. The Witch and definitely The Lighthouse are very kind of abstract movies and out there kind of stories. The Northman is the closest to a modern day kind of formulaic film that he's made. There are still lots of little interesting woo-hoo elements like the visual display of the family tree, Valhalla, Valkyries. All of these elements are in it and they're pretty kooky, but they're not as wacky as you would almost have said that The Lighthouse is. And that might be a little bit more enticing for people who are not fans of Robert Eggers' work or haven't seen any of his work for those who are fans of him and you were expecting something completely batshit woo-hoo. That's not really here, but I don't think that takes away from the film. The film has an absolutely fantastic cinematography palette. The colors and the movement with the camera and the display of Iceland is beautiful. It makes you want to go. I already wanted to go, but now I really, really want to go. I like how the story flows with the elements. Sure, there is maybe kind of a bit of a generic sort of feeling to it, but this is supposedly based off of a Viking tale, which is inspired by Hamlet. You've seen this story multiple times. You've seen Lion King, you've seen Hamlet. While that might be a little bit of a detractor, I still think this is a very solid movie. The performances by everyone in this film are outstanding. The dedication and the want to really portray a proper Viking culture-like film was clearly evident. The music and the sound design is fantastic. I would definitely suggest seeing it in a theater that you know will have the volume up. I've listened to the soundtrack on Spotify and even with earbuds in, it still does not properly articulate just the feeling it gave in that theater. I was really, really impressed with the sound design of this film. If there's anything that maybe be taken away from it is, as I said, you can kind of guess how the film is going to go pretty early on. That doesn't detract from it. It just doesn't make it like an exceptional, fantastic movie. I would just say it is a very solid film. You're going to enjoy the Viking elements to it. You're going to enjoy the story of revenge and there's some pretty fucking brutal scenes in this movie. Someone told me that they held back on a bit of things and maybe a little bit, but I don't know. There's a few things that are pretty fucking gnarly. So the solid cast, pretty decent direction by Robert Eggers as per Euch, and a visual palette and sound design that really take you into this Viking culture, this Viking mythology, this tale of the Northman. You're going to be pretty satisfied, I feel. It's not something that you're going to rave to the winds and Valhalla and Odin about, but you're still, I feel, going to be pretty decently satisfied. In the end, I'm going to give the Northman a 5 out of 7. If you're a big Viking guy and you're into that, I would suggest seeing it. It's a pretty fun time. Otherwise, if you have any kind of other Viking movies that you would suggest that are pretty good, please put those in the description down below. Otherwise, guys, I hope you enjoyed this review. If you did, leave a like and if you're interested in more subscribe. Otherwise, see you guys next time. To be or not to be? Not to be.