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It's fair to say that Vikings have been underused in films. In an attempt to redress the balance, Marcus Nispel has brought us Pathfinder, a historical actioner which pits Vikings against Native American Indians 15 years after the Scandinavians had discovered the North American continent, 500 years before Columbus did it. It's an appealing idea as well as an original one. An added twist is the fact that the main character, Ghost (Karl Urban), was left in America as a child by the previous Viking raiding party and has been brought up by the natives. The Vikings inevitably show up again to rape and pillage when he's an adult, and he is forced to fight his own brethren. Unfortunately the Vikings are given no depth and are simply personality-devoid brutes wearing oversized suits of armour and elaborate helmets that make them look like Orc rejects from The Lord of the Rings; a fact which is perhaps fitting as Urban's most high-profile role to date has been in that celebrated trilogy. Other than those films, Urban hasn't exactly showered himself in glory, but he is pretty good here in a role that asks him to do little more than look good with a sword. There's not much dialogue in the film but that's a blessing, as what there is ranges from perfunctory to unintentionally funny. Some of the acting (particularly those portraying the native Americans) is decidedly iffy too.
The most annoying thing about Pathfinder is that despite the above problems, it's actually pretty good stuff until the last twenty minutes. The guerrilla war waged by Ghost as he tries to combat the greater numbers of the invaders is entertaining in a Rambo-in-the-dark-ages sort of way. Disappointingly, the opportunity for a Predator-like finale is missed, as the story instead takes the protagonists up a mountain where the surroundings are far less interesting. The murky cinematography that was tolerable up to this point reaches overkill - why do some directors insist on desaturating their images and sucking all the life out of them? - and combined with dull fight choreography it makes for an unexciting climax. Therefore the interest that had been generated in earlier parts of the film by some good production design, intriguing plot and attractive scenery was eventually lost before it was over.
The summary
I was surprised at how much I was enjoying Pathfinder up until the last portion of the running time. The bland final showdown knocked a star off the score.
