STARRING: Jason Momoa, Rachel Nichols,
Stephen Lang, Rose McGowan, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ron Perlman, Leo Howard, Steve
O'Donnell, Raad Rawi, Nonso Anozie, Bob Sapp, Milton Welsh
2011, 112 Minutes, Directed by:
Marcus Nispel
The
knives are out for Conan the Barbarian both in the movie and in the theater . .
.
Not only is this an adaptation
of Robert E. Howard’s classic sword and sorcery hero, but it’s a remake of the
1982 movie that helped make Arnold Schwarzenegger a
star. So while the nitpickers and naysayers go at it, it’s important to apply
rule #1 in the film critic’s tool box: “Was I bored watching it?” The answer to
that question, for this reviewer, is “No.”
Conan is played by
Jason Momoa, probably best known as Khal Drogo from HBO’s Game of Thrones,
but here without the beard and with a flowing head of hair. After he sees his
father (Ron Perlman) tortured and murdered by the evil Khalar Zym (Stephen
Lang), the young Conan grows up plotting revenge. In terms of motivation it is
all pretty straight forward. Zym wants to bring his wife, a sorceress, back to
life so he can become a god and rule all of ancient Hyboria. Conan wants to kill
Zym. Everything else is commentary.
What makes this work
is the art direction and the special effects. This is a world that seems to
exist beyond the edges of the frame. Each realm has its own look and feel,
whether it is a monastery, Zym’s castle, or a city of thieves. There’s plenty of
action as Conan has to kill several of Zym’s henchmen along the way, starting
with the poor fellow whose nose he cut off as a child barbarian.
One quickly loses
count of the heads, noses, arms and other body parts that get hacked off in the
course of the film. That’s where the effects come in. Back in 1982 the blood may
have flowed but not like this. It’s not Saw gory, but when someone gets
on the wrong end of the swordplay, we see the spray of blood as they fall. This
is a brutal world and the level of violence, while not stomach churning, is more
than appropriate.
"Grunts and violence, with some gratuitous (but not unwelcome) nudity
. . ."
Then there’s the
sorcery. It’s nearly all in the hands of Marique (Rose McGowan), Zym’s daughter,
who is easily the most outrageous character in the film, from her partially
shaved scalp to the Freddy Krueger-like blade extensions on her fingers. She may
be this summer’s Goth pin-up girl! The magic is limited to one impressive
sequence where Conan is fighting warriors who rise and fall from the sand, and
to her ability to find the “pure one” Zym seeks by tasting their blood. Tamara
(Rachel Nichols) is the last of a special bloodline who is needed so that Zym
can bring his wife back to life.
As might be expected,
it is the villains who get to have the most fun with the parts, with Lang and
McGowan clearly relishing the evil their characters do. Momoa will face some
sniping in that his Conan is largely sword-wielding beefcake without a wide
range of emotions. Well, he is a barbarian. That’s the point. One suspects that
if this turns into a franchise there is room for a worldlier and more
experienced Conan to develop and Momoa’s work elsewhere shows he’s up to the
task.
Conan the
Barbarian does what it sets out to do: provide plenty of action and
imagination, while allowing the hero the chance to kill all the bad guys.
There’s nothing deep here. Those expecting more than grunts and violence, with
some gratuitous (but not unwelcome) nudity thrown in, should look elsewhere.
The
knives are out for Conan the Barbarian both in the movie and in the theater . .
.