This film is released locally this week as "Vikings: The Real Legend of Thor." I guess they had to promote the fact that there is a character named Thor in this movie to attract audiences, though he is nothing like the Thor of Marvel Comics people want to see. The newspaper ads only herald two of the actors in the B-list cast whom local viewers may vaguely recall.
The Christian religion is stealing the thunder away from the traditional Norse gods. Incensed, the violent red-haired god Thor is on a rampage to destroy the world. Another god Frey advises the King Eirick, raised from the dead by his beloved goddess of love Freya, that he needs to obtain the Horn from the underworld, Helheim. Only by blowing the horn in the face of Thor can the god of thunder by subdued. Eirick gathers a motley crew of Vikings and goes on a quest to save the earth from the wrath of the gods.
The lead role of Eirick was played by Dominic Purcell. For someone with the most important role, he came up with the worst acting of all. There was nothing inspiring about him, which makes the whole film collapse under his wretched performance.
Sticking out like a sore thumb is the presence of Jon Foo playing Yang, an Oriental slave. His graceful Chinese-style fighting skills stood out from the brutal sword play and barbaric bludgeoning. I guess we need someone to break the Slavic monotony, and he does his job fine, albeit as the unfortunate comic relief.
Talking about breaking the monotony, that would also explain the inexplicable presence of Natassia Malthe as Brynna, the token female warrior and love interest. I have to admit that her beauty was a welcome distraction among the burly and brawny Vikings.
Honestly, the story is not bad at all, with interesting developments towards the end. However, everything else about this film all scream B-Movie! The props were so unconvincingly fake. Thor's red hair wig looked terrible, and even his hammer itself looked so flimsy and plastic. The computer-generated imagery were very cheap-looking. The script was bloated with lousy lines. The acting was either very wooden or too hammy. Unintentionally funny, this film definitely could have been done a lot better. 3/10.
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