Auntie_Krizu
From looking at the other reviews, it seems like a lot of people saw this as children and fell in love with it, and are still looking at it through that lens. Well, I read the comics as a kid and loved them, and still love them as an adult, but having just seen the movie I was really disappointed. This movie has barely any plot to it (whetever plot there is could have been told in about 15 minutes) and it spends a lot of time on ultimately meaningless fooling around. Now, you can expect a few dancing and singing scenes and playing around in an animation, but if that's what the bulk of the movie consists of and nothing really happens, then it's ultimately very uninteresting, I have to say. Very little of the wit and the nicely-packed adventures of the original comics are to be found here--if they'd just decided to pick one of the earlier albums and dramatise that, this would've been much interesting. It really doesn't help that they decided to include the Quark, who is mostly an incredibly annoying little git who makes everyone's life miserable, yet we are somehow supposed to feel sympathy for him. And unfortunately, the Quark's story is the only really character-oriented bit in the movie. Parts of the movie illustrate the old Norse myths wonderfully and the backgrounds are beautifully painted, but overall there's just not that much meat to it. In a movie about Norse myths, I would've enjoyed seeing more mythical adventures instead of 20-minute sequences of kids building tree houses and clapping their hands, or endless excruciatingly frustrating sequences of the Quark breaking stuff and being annoying. I would've wanted to see more of Thor, Loki and Odin because the nature of the gods was pretty close to what it was in the myths and the comics, but instead I just got a baby troll whose neck I wanted to wring. I'm really surprised that such witty and entertaining comics (with fun and exciting versions of the old myths) could result in such a frustrating and boring movie. It's a great shame, because there was certainly a lot of potential.
lilmaibe
I will not hide it: This is the movie that defines my childhood and might be one of the things that had a major impression on me. Yet still, it does have its weaknesses: The good things first: There are, compared to other mythologies, only few movies that handle the material in a fair and nice way and not reduce the norse folks and their gods down to brutal dumb-heads with horned helmets. Valhalla, the movie and the comics even more so, certainly know what they are talking about. The movie's story is based on the mythological tale of Thor's journey to Utgard with some minor myths and some additional comic-relief mixed into it. The result is a movie that does provide some good morals without hammering them into the viewer's head like so many films unfortunately do nowadays. But now for the downsides: The movie has its dragging parts. Thor playing with his children, the building of the hut etc are nice, but feel a bit long. The responding volumes of the comic (volume 4 and 5 to be precise) came out after the movie and might, in comparison, feel a bit better done. Especially since the comics explain a lot more where the movie left things out or just had them as a throw-away scene. Another weakness might be that the movie feels a bit like it expects the viewer to know the mythology by heart at times.Therefore, to conclude this: The movie is certainly watching, whether or not you know the myths. But try to get your hands on the comics, they are worth a look even more, if I may say so.
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews
I don't know how many times I've sat through this. I've probably read all the original written efforts, as well. I'm hardly the loudest or most likely candidate when it comes to bragging about Denmark, but this is an aspect in which I feel pride. I will not be commenting on the English dub, nor do I intend to hear it, and I don't care for the fact that this(*our* cultural heritage) was first done to fit that, then synchronized to our tongue. This is based partially on the comic book series, the artist/writer of it helming it(and I think he did a darn good job), and is magnificent both as an introduction to reading them, if one so desires(I'd say they may very well enjoy them thoroughly), and as a retelling of the subject matter. This takes portions of a couple of these novels, and they fit together well. It takes us through Asgaard and Udgaard, shows us several of the creatures and people residing in them, and includes an adventure or two. The plot is well-done and develops nicely... it's never actually boring. The pacing is pretty much spot-on, with mood and atmosphere in a concise movie. The art and animation are great. The detail in the entire production is impressive. The tone is an interesting case... this could be viewed by children, and definitely does cater to them some, but it isn't insulting to other age-groups, and at times, it's fairly dark(and it could be argued that there are hints of adult stuff). The voices, as provided by us Danes, are marvelous, as is quite a bit of the acting. Kaysø and Bank-Mikkelsen with their deep, booming speech are among the perfect casting. Kristensen, though you might not immediately choose him for what who he performs, is, as well. Eje adds a lot of personality through mere grunts and such. Ryskjær and Rolffes deserve mention as well, as Hugin and Munin, the ravens. The characters are reasonably fleshed out, and their traits are instantly recognizable from the source material. The score is excellent, with themes for the various groups, and more often than not, famous pieces, used well. The audience had better at the very least tolerate Quark, because he's there a lot. For my money, the "whisle scene" is rather high up on the list of the most entertaining of that type of thing. The humor varies, and there is silly, cartoon-y, but also clever, laughs herein. There are morals in this, as well, and they aren't heavy-handed. The DVD of this features three trailers, a work-reel and commentary tracks with each director, and they are informative and well worth listening through. I, myself, would jump at the opportunity to watch well-done films about the Norse myths. That doesn't mean this is anything less than masterful. I recommend this to anyone into the stories. 8/10
