Kornball The Conqueror
Superstar
go woke go broke
Why do y’all think The Northman flopped?
- Thread starter Danny Vermin
- Start date
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- 2022 film flop thenorthman
Poetical Poltergeist
Precise and cold hearted
Flick was boring and falsely advertised. No one gave a fukk.
Danny Vermin
Pro
How was it “woke”?
Kornball The Conqueror
Superstar
Peter Popoff
Baba Yega in black uptowns
DING!! DING!!! DING!!!! DING!!!! DING!!!!!
humminbird
Veteran
it wasn't expected to make a ton of money. they expect to make their profit through tv and VOD
Danny Vermin
Pro
Foreal? Where’d you hear that?
humminbird
Veteran
there was a deadline or variety article a couple months back where they mentioned it.
granted this came out after the film was doing poorly
people just want to blame franchise films when this film just was not marketed well and way too white for modern times.
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Wasn't marketed correctly, and ppl who would enjoy it came in expecting something different.
I thought I was going to get absolute cac savagery, and instead, got a slow-burning revenge plot with a lot of great visuals. I wouldn't say it was intense, but grabs your attention without needing copious amounts of violence.
I liked it, but I was honestly disappointed I wasn't seeing cac savagery
I thought I was going to get absolute cac savagery, and instead, got a slow-burning revenge plot with a lot of great visuals. I wouldn't say it was intense, but grabs your attention without needing copious amounts of violence.
I liked it, but I was honestly disappointed I wasn't seeing cac savagery
KevCo
Bond's gun spoke once....
This…honestly if it were not for a poster on this board i would have never checked for it
Maybe marketing
Mister Terrific
It’s in the name
I loved the movie and I usually don’t like Viking era stuff. But here are some critiques as to why I think it didn’t hit.
************Spoilers***********
1. Bad marketing. It was marketed as an epic with huge battles and set pieces. In reality there is only one real battle at the beginning and it’s only 5 minutes long and the battle wasn’t directed well. I liked how it was a continuous shot but it’s clear that the choreography was lacking.
Compare the battle from the Revenant to the Northman
2. The one real battle in the film ends with a village massacre and sack that the hero participates in. Literally like a scene out of come and see with the villagers herded into a house and burned alive. Which is cool that Eggers showed what happened in real history to tribes that were defeated but it’s hard to engender support for your story when it’s your protagonist doing it.
3. The majority of the film takes place on a farm. So you go in expecting this epic spanning multiple locations and events but really it all takes place in Iceland with a very small cast of characters.
4. Trying to straddle the line between myth and reality. The hero is fighting Draugr, communing with death gods, seeing prophecy, carries a magic sword and in love with a witch but the movie never commits to its fantastical nature by having the goals of the protagonist be to not revenge himself on a king but a king that has already been usurped and driven into exile. Yes, the movie makes the point that revenge in itself is the point, but the deeds have to be matched or exceeded by the goal. You wouldn’t watch Luke or Aragorn go through so much trial to defeat a random loser.
5. The anti-slavery messaging towards the end really doesn’t feel right in such a nihilistic, primitive world. Slavery to these people was normal fact of everyday life. The entire plot being set in motion because Kidman was originally enslaved by Ethan Hawke’s character only to marry his brother who is also a slaver doesn’t make sense. Especially in a medieval world where every 3rd person was a slave or serf.
************Spoilers***********
1. Bad marketing. It was marketed as an epic with huge battles and set pieces. In reality there is only one real battle at the beginning and it’s only 5 minutes long and the battle wasn’t directed well. I liked how it was a continuous shot but it’s clear that the choreography was lacking.
Compare the battle from the Revenant to the Northman
2. The one real battle in the film ends with a village massacre and sack that the hero participates in. Literally like a scene out of come and see with the villagers herded into a house and burned alive. Which is cool that Eggers showed what happened in real history to tribes that were defeated but it’s hard to engender support for your story when it’s your protagonist doing it.
3. The majority of the film takes place on a farm. So you go in expecting this epic spanning multiple locations and events but really it all takes place in Iceland with a very small cast of characters.
4. Trying to straddle the line between myth and reality. The hero is fighting Draugr, communing with death gods, seeing prophecy, carries a magic sword and in love with a witch but the movie never commits to its fantastical nature by having the goals of the protagonist be to not revenge himself on a king but a king that has already been usurped and driven into exile. Yes, the movie makes the point that revenge in itself is the point, but the deeds have to be matched or exceeded by the goal. You wouldn’t watch Luke or Aragorn go through so much trial to defeat a random loser.
5. The anti-slavery messaging towards the end really doesn’t feel right in such a nihilistic, primitive world. Slavery to these people was normal fact of everyday life. The entire plot being set in motion because Kidman was originally enslaved by Ethan Hawke’s character only to marry his brother who is also a slaver doesn’t make sense. Especially in a medieval world where every 3rd person was a slave or serf.
Danny Vermin
Pro
Fair points.
I’m mainly into films that fall under the “character study” label so I wasn’t too bothered by the shortness of the first battle. Though it was short in comparison to most battles in historical actions films, it was brutal and savage and worked for me. I can see why somebody going into it wanting to watch long “epic” battles would be disappointed though.
After reading the comments here, it seems that the marketing defiantly let it down. I have an interest in films and actively seek them out (rather than relying on trailers and social media) so I guess it’s no surprise that I was more aware of it than a lot of the general public.
I agree with you on the anti-slavery critique, it definitely felt out of place.
Mister Terrific
It’s in the name
Definitely. I think it’s one of those films that people are going to come back to in 10 years once the Viking fatigue has died down and be like this was great. Reminds me of Beowulf the animated movie that was forgotten on release but now is a cult classic.