In 1000 AD, held prisoner by a Norse chieftain, a fearless mute warrior, aided by a boy slave, kills his captors and then falls in with a group of Vikings seeking a holy land which begets a journey into the heart of darkness.
This is “Valhalla Rising,” the amazing new film by Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn; a Viking epic starring the always-captivating Mads Mikkelsen.
How cinephiles today won’t love this film is inexplicable, but the reading by this guy (who seemingly has the worst taste on the web) is brutal and completely off the mark.
Our review of the film from TIFF 2009 called the film akin to Terrence Malick making a silent horror movie or the great Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky making a lovechild descent into madness B-movie with early John Carpenter and that’s gloriously on the mark as the film is savage, fierce, eerie and unsettling.
While the trailer for ‘Valhalla’ had plenty of visceral axe-swinging bad-assery, the film is the polar opposite of Refn’s celebrated 2009 picture “Bronson” — it’s a slow-moving, meditative and haunting picture (which is what that other yokel can’t appreciate to save his life). It might be a hard sell for plebeian audiences, but cineastes should revel in the stunning awe this mesmerizing picture generally delivers. “Valhalla Rising” hits theaters July 16 and should be OnDemand any day now if you can’t wait.
Refn really went all the way with this, which I guess is no surprise given how BRONSON turned out.
Having said that, this looks amazing.
(who seemingly has the worst taste on the web)
So it's not just me who noticed this. I saw this guy quoted in a movie trailer once and it was enough to put me off seeing it entirely. Also, he has a mild misogynistic streak, too, which is always helpful.
Anyway. Saw this movie at TIFF and it was fabulous. It still doesn't have Canadian distribution, though, so I'm a little disappointed by not being able to see it again.
Alex Billington is a fucking retard, I thought this was obvious to everyone by now.
"Alex Billington is a fucking retard, I thought this was obvious to everyone by now."
Thank you for saying what I've been thinking for about a year now.
Alex loves every shitty blockbuster. I hate firstshowing.net.
That guy does to good movies what BP do to seabirds.
THIS. LOOKS. AWESOME.
Haha! Yeah, firstshowing is questionable way too often. This trailer is great. Cant wait to see this.
Guys, the editors let the dig slide, but there's no need for a pile-on.
*SPOILER*
The trailer shows the end shot of the film and spoils pretty much the entire suspense surrounding the "mysterious place" that the crusaders stumble upon. But I guess those that haven't seen the film wont realize it.
"Alex Billington is a fucking retard"
Couldn't agree more. The guy is just a fanboy with no film knowledge or writing skills. I don't understand why people like that start blogs anyway.
Sites like Firstshowing are an embarrassment to smart, knowledgeable bloggers. The same thing goes for Slashfilm and its idiotic editor-in-chief Peter Sciretta.
Alex Billington writes and acts like a 12 year old boy. It's no surprise that he enjoys most movies aimed at that demographic.
What? You figure out NOW that Alex Billington's writing is laughably inconsistent, childish and designed to appeal to dullards and fanboys?
Who said I figured this out just now? We and I generally avoid swipes at other ppl, but god, this one was just impossible to resist. How when can hate on this movie — it's a like a cinephile's boner — and actually run a film site and call themselves a fan of movies is beyond me.