It has been a while since we had a film with Vikings in it. The last one I can remember is 1999's The 13th Warrior, which was helmed by John McTiernan and starred Antonio Banderas. There may have been something in between, but I cannot recall any. Now, eight years later we are faced with the Marcus Nispel-helmed Viking actioner starring Doom's Karl Urban. Whether or not this film is successful in bringing Viking action back to the big screen is debatable. I, for one, found it to be a fun, if forgettable, romp through a bygone era, not at all believable, but an entertaining diversion. Then disaster struck — I watched it again on DVD, and the fun I had at the cineplex dissipated in a flash.
There is no story. Seriously. I knew that after seeing it on the big screen, and accepted it then. On the small screen the lack of story is exposed, with an attempt to cover it up in unrated form which adds a good deal more blood and gore. There is the slimmest outline of a tale, basically the bare minimum to string along the action sequences. So, if you are looking for an intriguing tale of Viking aggression and the journey of a boy becoming a man trapped between two worlds and the consequences that it has, you are going to have to look elsewhere. However, if all you are looking for is a diversion with some sword swinging action, this may be right up your alley.
The movie tells of a Viking war party that ventured to the shores of what would become America some 600 years prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Why they came, and what they were after is unknown. What is known is that the ship was wrecked, and a young child was left behind, abandoned in a strange land.
A native tribe adopts the boy and raises him as one of their own. Fifteen years later the Vikings are back, and they are not a happy go lucky bunch, but rather a churlish lot who enjoy a good pillage, seeking to commit some ethnic cleansing so that they can settle the land.
The return of the Vikings brings a trail of dead along with them. They begin their hunt by slaughtering the grown boy's, now known as Ghost (most likely due to his pale complexion), adoptive home. This is not the best way to endear yourself to your lost member. Ghost, upon discovering the pile of bodies left by his brethren from the North, sets out on a path to kill as many of the interlopers as he can, a suicide mission to be sure, but an honorable undertaking in the eyes of the young warrior.
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