In 1982, “Conan the Barbarian” enticed audiences with a poster promising four phases of a rough man’s rough life: “Thief. Warrior. Gladiator. King.”
“The Northman,” which wanders narratively but, as cinema, basically eats “Conan” for breakfast, follows what might be considered a similar career path: Prince, followed by Slave, then Viking Marauder, and finally Newly Sensitized Lover and Potential Family Man.
Alexander Skarsgard takes the title role, as well as taking a fair bit of on-screen punishment en route to a climactic battle at the Gates of Hel (one “l” in this hell, for the record). There, at Hel, Amleth, played by Skarsgard, wields his mighty sword against his kingdom-usurping uncle (Claes Bang) surrounded by rivers of flaming molten lava. They’re nude, discreetly silhouetted, and as in much of “The Northman” the scene’s melding of digital and practical effects and design strategies doesn’t lead to the usual fantasy generica. Robert Eggers creates worlds that used to be, or never were, but thanks to his chosen medium, there they are, vivid and alive.
Warning: The movie is not for stubbornly mainstream tastes or the eccentricity-resistant. This is director Eggers’ third feature, following his exquisite debut “The Witch” (2016), set in the 1630s, and the late 19th-century odd-couple nightmare “The Lighthouse” (2019). Shot in Ireland and Iceland on a large budget, “The Northman” put Eggers through a new set of paces, involving test screenings and studio input and the pressure to deliver.
I can’t speak to its commercial prospects, which is a euphemism for “leave that to Variety.” Eggers and his co-screenwriter, the Icelandic poet and novelist Sjon, have made a movie that reminds you of many other movies, from “The Vikings” to “Spartacus,” and myths, and even plays: Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” comes from the same medieval Scandinavian legends as “The Northman” does.
Young prince Amleth, played in the early going by Oscar Novak, has a bright future. His father-king (Ethan Hawke) has returned from the sea, and while his mother-queen (Nicole Kidman) may be dogged by the occasional rumor of messing around with the king’s brother (Bang), all seems well for a bit.
Then the bit passes; the usurping uncle kills his brother, kidnaps the queen and the boy, outwitting his would-be assassins, escapes and is presumed dead. “The Northman” jumps ahead a generation and picks up with Amleth, enslaved and then, in short order, a Viking marauder with “a heart of cold iron.” He remembers who he used to be, but only because he is driven by dreams of avenging his father’s death.
From there the film, which is outlandishly gory in some unexpected ways, becomes a romance tinged with mysticism, in between calmly composed shots of entrails leaving a soldier’s stomach. Anya Taylor-Joy, who starred in “The Witch,” returns here as the Slavic slave woman who becomes Amleth’s partner in scheming, long-term planning and true love. This leads to a reckoning for the brutish hero. Amleth is told by the “Seeress,” played by Björk with don’t-doubt-me intensity, that Amleth must keep his eye on his destiny, take care of business with his uncle and rescue his mother.
The Seeress sees more than she’s telling, as it turns out, and from there “The Northman” combines plotting that rewrites “Hamlet” with more familiar Viking genre satisfactions and leaps into the supernatural.
The reason I like “The Northman” more than any number of other big-budget period bloodbaths, from “Conan the Barbarian” to “Braveheart,” lies in Eggers’ sly juggling of an audience’s rooting interests. Temperamentally, Eggers really isn’t into rooting interests as a story driver. The downside of that can be detected in Skarsgard’s fierce but narrow performance, which is limited by the conception of the character as a pure revenge machine, complicated, later, by his humane awakening. But the movie’s baked-in macho violence feels different here — a little more skeptical, with fewer triumphal “kills” than usual.
It’s a hearty stew of influences and rewards and, yes, some gristle. Once too often, probably, Eggers bores in on Amleth in glowering, half-crazed Kubrickian close-up. But he’s a director who knows how, and when, to move a camera, and how long a shot should be sustained, and where our perspective should be in relation to a harsh act or fleeting glimpse of violence. “The Northman” fills out its widescreen canvas, carefully and meticulously. Yes, a different co-writer might’ve helped Eggers create a more propulsive new-style epic, instead of the trancelike vision of the 10th and early 11th centuries we have here. But these days, does anyone really want a Viking fantasy of power, revenge, spilled blood and hot lava that’s all fake realism and no genuine magic?
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‘THE NORTHMAN’
3 stars (out of 4)
MPAA rating: R (for strong bloody violence, some sexual content and nudity)
Running time: 2:16
How to watch: In theaters Friday
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