“Viking Wolf” Movie Review

 

 

 

“Viking Wolf”

Movie Review

 

'Viking Wolf,' directed by Stig Svendsen, is written by Espen Aukan and stars Liv Mjones, Elli Rhiannon Muller Osborne, Arthur Hakalahti, and Sjur Vatne. Thale (17) has just moved to a small town with her parents after her mother gets a new job with the local police. Thale becomes a key witness after a student is brutally murdered at a party she attends. Was the murderer an animal? A wolf?

For some reason, the film was shot in silent mode, with a raiding party led by Grim Gudbrand storming an abbey. The monks warn them against entering a locked room, assuming it is full of treasure, and smashing down the door to find a snarling red-eyed wolf cub. Of course, they bring it with them, and by the time their longship returns home, it's the only thing alive on board. The little hellhound leaps from the ship and vanishes into the woods.

The same woods where seventeen-year-old Thale's (Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne) friend Jonas (Sjur Vatne Brean) has invited her to a party in the present day. The party concludes with Thale and Jonas being injured by an animal and Elin (Silje ksland Krohne), the mayor's daughter, missing.

Beyond the prologue, the director and co-writer don't put much thought into Viking Wolf's setup. Thale has only recently moved to Nybo and has few friends; her relationship with her policewoman mother Liv (Liv Mjönes) has been strained since her father died and her mother married Arthur (Vidar Magnussen). Jenny (Mia Fosshaug Laubacher), her younger sister, is deaf and communicates through sign language.

Thale only needs a suspicious past to be the perfect suspect when more people are found dead. Oh, wait, she has one. Viking Wolf continues on its familiar path with the arrival of both William (Arthur Hakalahti), a wolf expert, and Lars (Stle Bjrnhaug), a self-proclaimed werewolf expert. A creature is killed, but this does not put an end to the killings, and so on.

All of this plods along, accompanied by numerous shots of Norwegian scenery. It's all very tedious and extremely slow-paced. I was already bored by the time the script began ripping off An American Werewolf in London. The creature's attack on the police hunting party is largely uninteresting due to the fact that the actual attacks are kept offscreen. Worse, a later attack on a bus is cut almost as soon as it begins, implying that the film defangs what should have been its major set pieces, leaving only a brief attack at the end to provide excitement.

The creature itself isn't particularly impressive, resembling a very large, very ugly, and obviously CGI wolf. To complete the cycle of disappointment, transformation effects are limited to a brief glimpse lasting approximately thirty seconds.

Given how good the script for Troll was, Viking Wolf is a major disappointment. Granted, the decision on how to handle the attack scenes was made after the script was written, but the lack of character development is a different story. The elements for that development are all set up and then mostly ignored throughout the film.

This means that when the film attempts an emotional ending, it falls flat because we aren't invested in anyone and aren't convinced of their connection.

Viking Wolf had the potential to be entertaining, but it undercuts itself at every turn, foregoing blood and thrills in exchange for characterization and emotion that the script ultimately fails to deliver. There are a few good scenes in the film, but they aren't worth sitting through the rest for.

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