Robert Eggers is back with a highly anticipated film, The Northman. His third feature film, has an all-star cast of Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, and Björk. The action/ adventure film premieres on the 22nd of April, 2022. Before its release, a lot of comparisons are being made with films like the Gladiator. How does it compare? Would it be better? We discuss all this and more in this article. Do share your opinion in the comments section below.
About The Northman
The Northman has the biggest budget, director Robert Eggers has had to date. This represents a huge opportunity for him and also raises expectations from the film. The trailer looks very promising! It has beautiful visuals, fast-paced action, and a whole lot more to offer. The film is a loose adaption of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. What’s more, is that it is co-written by Icelandic poet Sjón.
It follows the adventures of Amleth (played by Skarsgård) as he pursues his uncle wanting revenge for his father’s murder. In contrast with other Viking movies, director Robert Eggers has invested a lot in getting the film as period-accurate as possible. This meant consulting academics and archeologists. All was done to ensure it was an authentic representation of those times.
Will it be Better than The Gladiator?
With all these grand landscapes, amazing action sequences, and much more, comparisons by fans to other historical epics like The Gladiator were unsurprising. However, the director has a word of caution in this matter. Speaking to The New York Times he says that such a direct comparison would be a mistake. He goes on to say: “We had kind of an expensive, arty—but commercial—but arty, but commercial, like, Viking movie… Now everyone is kind of, like, ‘If this isn’t “Gladiator” or “Braveheart,” we’re fucked.’ And the thing is: it isn’t. It has aspects of that, for sure. But my best intention of doing ‘Gladiator’ or ‘Braveheart’ is still… Weirder.”
No matter what he says, such comparisons are inevitable. Both these films have a similar commercial appeal and with all the things going in favor of it, they could become the director’s first big hit. Would it be better than The Gladiator? Well, It does have all the ingredients to make it big. These are a good star cast, a big budget, promising writing, amazing visuals, and solid action.
Whether all this translates to box office success or not, only time will tell. It looks similar to The Gladiator and has a lot of things going for it. It may outmatch it, or it may fall short. Come the 22nd of April, all will be clear.
