Walhalla Rising (2009)

Walhalla Rising: Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. With Mads Mikkelsen, Alexander Morton, Stewart Porter, Maarten Stevenson. Forced for some time to be a fighting slave, a pagan warrior escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land.

“Nicolas Winding Refn and his skeleton film crew have done a fantastic job with this film. Itu0026#39;s minimalist in itu0026#39;s dialogue (more akin to a Takeshi production), brutal in itu0026#39; depiction of violence, stunning in itu0026#39;s heavily treated Scottish-shot cinematography and quite frankly surreal in itu0026#39;s execution.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs for the story, you may have read the plot above but Nicolas Winding Refn is really wanting to take his audience on a visual/psychological journey rather than spell everything out for you. This is a film that will probably win over more u0026#39;art-houseu0026#39; fans than hyperactive videogaming teenage boys, which begs the question – What the hell happened to the original theatrical poster artwork, why has the marketing department decided to package this as a u0026#39;300u0026#39; rip-off?? Itu0026#39;s criminal.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn terms of plot, much is left to the imagination and it benefits greatly from it. Itu0026#39;s like a very bad acid trip. A trip that Mads Mikkelsenu0026#39;s character u0026#39;one-eyeu0026#39; undertakes for reasons known only to himself (well, a mute isnu0026#39;t going to tell you whatu0026#39;s heu0026#39;s doing is he?). After fleeing his captors, finding a child as a companion and joining up with a group of midgy-bitten Scottish Christian Vikings (which actually existed, by the way) we find ourselves en-route, via viking boat to what can only be described as Hearts of Darkness meets Bosch meets Lord of The Flies. Itu0026#39;s a story that peers into the deepest and darkest parts of manu0026#39;s soul. Chaos, evil, death itu0026#39;s all in there and the director takes on an almost Werner Herzog persona, dragging his crew to the most remote parts of Scotland. Itu0026#39;s edgy, sparse, minimalist spooky psychological stuff thatu0026#39;s utterly gorgeous and tense throughout. It just about holds the pace together (almost losing it in the boat scenes) but itu0026#39;s Mads Mikkelsen that keeps you gripped. Even without uttering a word, he draws you in until the closing scene Great stuff. Itu0026#39;s gory art-house flick, existential, dark, minimalist, stylish and very un-Hollywood. And I loved it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI just wish the box art was revised for the sake of itu0026#39;s future audience. The packaging this film comes in is a disgrace. u0026#39;300u0026#39; it ainu0026#39;t! It desperately needs a minimalist design on the menu and box to match the filmu0026#39;s mood (and original theatrical poster). Trust me folks, Iu0026#39;m a Graphic Designer!”