Earlier today the trailer for the upcoming Robert Eggers (The VVitch, The Lighthouse) was released. See it for yourself:
To say the film is highly anticipated by many would be an understatement. Robert Eggers’ previous films have earned him considerable positive word of mouth. He has helped make actress Anya Taylor-Joy a near household name, and in my opinion hit the ball out of the proverbial park with the weird, eerie, mysterious, yet at times strangely hilarious The Lighthouse.
So, yes, I’m one of those people who was interested in his latest work and, yes, I was one of those that eagerly looked into the trailer to The Northman.
And now that I’ve seen the trailer…
…I’m curiously underwhelmed.
Don’t get me wrong: There are some very fine images here and it looks like Mr. Eggers has certainly taken a big step up and made a far bigger film than he has before.
However, the story that’s presented here feels old hat, a tale of a young man whose father is murdered by some brutal warlord, who then grows and schemes his revenge…
…did I not see almost the exact same plot in the original Conan The Barbarian film all the way back in (checks notes) 1982?!
Now, lest you think I haven’t done some research, it is my understanding the film is more than it appears in the trailer, that it goes into strange territory (makes sense given Mr. Eggers’ previous movies and the co-writer of the screenplay to this film is Sjón, who, if you read his IMdB profile, has been involved in some “out there” works, including the recently released Lamb).
That it isn’t exactly what it appears, which is a movie very much in the vein of Conan (not, by the way, that that’s necessarily a bad thing… I happen to like the film quite a bit).
Still, I’m surprised the trailer featured what appeared to be such a standard swords and sandals -albeit with a Norse element- revenge story.
There are those who have praised what they’ve seen and opined it “blew them away”.
I just wish I could say the same.
Still, don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade and yes, I’m certainly hoping for the best…