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Derek Malcolm's rating
Rough justice for the Vikings
By
Derek Malcolm
19 Apr 2007
The Danish nation should sue the makers of this film about a Viking expedition making hay in America 500 years before Columbus reached its shores.
The Vikings, without exception, are characterised as nasty, brutish and dedicated to killing the men, women and children of every native tribe they stumble upon, in the nastiest of ways.
Director Marcus Nispel calls Pathfinder "the untold legend" even though he has based it upon Nils Gaup's infinitely superior 1987 Norwegian movie of the same name.
The fulcrum of the plot is a young Viking boy left behind in an earlier raid and brought up by Wampanoag Indians. When he reaches manhood (played by Karl Urban), he becomes the saviour of the situation and wins the heart of the woman he loves (Moon Bloodgood).
It's an action movie dressed up in splendid costumes, and shot in Canada with some eloquence by Daniel Pearl. There's no doubt it looks good. But there's considerable doubt about any form of authenticity.
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