Damon (大文)’s review published on Letterboxd:
Henderson, Nevada
11:01 PM
I’m zooming through the streets with Niko and ran like two red lights. Lost in the World by Kanye is playing, followed by Jesus Walks. Made it to the theater, with like 4 minutes to spare and had time for a piss. Yeah to put it briefly this was worth it. Made me wanna hit the gym, get ripped, grow long hair and listen to metal. I got to watch this again and about to sleep since brain is a bit fried right now.
The pacing is good, but can be repetitive at times; like we know it’s his time to kill fjölnir, save mother and avenge father. I think certain moments in the middle and finale was a bit clunky. Some of the dialogue was mumbly, but it’ll be better on rewatch with subtitles. Regarding technical aspects it’s great from the performances, cinematography, set design, etc. There’s a bunch of good and meh elements here, still has that Eggers style mixed in with Viking imagery and brutal/bloody savagery. Love the long shots, gives me some Tarkovsky vibes. The revenge story isn’t told in a linear or cliche way, has a strong message about the importance of family and tragedy of revenge. As for the studio interference reports, I’m glad this version aligned with his vision and proud to see one of the best directors as of right now make something this big and spectacular after two perfect indie features. In my eyes this is like Kendrick dropping Damn, may not be on the same level as GKMC or TPAB, but it fits well in their own respective catalogue.
