Blowing Up The Season Finale With "The Defenders"

The Good: Good performances
The Bad: Lousy direction, Obtrusive soundtrack, Virtually non-existent character development, Obvious plot
The Basics: The Defenders reaches its first season finale with its eponymous episode, which does pretty much everything one expects it to.


Before The Defenders began, I had a secret hope for two things that might happen within its first season. The first was that I hoped that Trish Walker would don a costume and become Hellcat to aid The Defenders in their fight, potentially setting up a Heroes For Hire Netflix series with Trish, Colleen Wing, and Misty Knight. Alas, that did not happen. I also hoped that Danny Rand's Iron Fist would die, perhaps going out in a blaze of glory that would have both justified the first season of Iron Fist and perhaps set up a second season with a different incarnation of the Iron Fist (perhaps the female version, maybe have her in the Heroes For Hire series?). My hopes on that second front were dashed in the two days before Netflix released The Defenders when Netflix and Disney announced that they had begun work on the second season of Iron Fist. Given that Finn Jones was part of that announcement, it seemed unlikely that Danny Rand would get killed off in the first season finale of The Defenders, appropriately entitled "The Defenders."

"The Defenders" concludes the events of the first season of The Defenders picking up in the very last moments of "Fish In The Jailhouse" (reviewed here!), which featured Elektra smartly sidestepping the Iron Fist and using her swords to push his fist into the mysterious door. While the three other Defenders prepared to join Danny Rand at the bottom of the Midland Circle pit, the audience saw what appeared to be the skeleton of a K'un-Lun-style dragon on the other side of the door that only the Iron Fist could open.

In the Midland Circle skyscraper, Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage debate with Colleen Wing and Claire Temple using the C-4 Wing brought to blow up the skyscraper. While Cage objects to the course of action, Jones turns the vote by observing that The Hand shows no signs of stopping and they have a willingness to kill all their friends and family. Madame Gao joins Elektra in the fossilized remains of an ancient mystical creature at the bottom of the pit. Gao encourages Elektra to remove The Substance from the fossils and get out of New York City before it collapses entirely. While the Defenders head to the now-open door to rescue Danny Rand, Wing and Temple rush to set the C-4 charges. Knight learns that the C-4 was taken and sets to creating a perimeter and trying to find a way into Midland Circle.

Cage, Jones and Daredevil arrive at the bottom of the pit to rescue Danny Rand, while Misty Knight breaks into the upper levels of Midland Circle. Knight rescues Claire Temple from a Hand ninja and stops the swordfight between Wing and Bakuto. As the three women try to hold off The Hand upstairs, The Defenders try to fight their way through the crowd of Hand ninjas to return to the surface. But Matt Murdock's attachment to Elektra may be his undoing!

"The Defenders" does a decent job of at least playing lip service to the idea that the heroes do not kill. Luke Cage refuses to go along with the "blow up the building" plan until the others commit to not allowing any innocents to die. Despite that, after they commit to that, The Defenders do not set off any sort of alarm to get out anyone like janitorial staff who might be working elsewhere in the building. But, at least on the surface, "The Defenders" provides the appearance that the protagonists care about protecting lives of those not in The Hand.

In an episode that leads to a painfully predictable climax and includes the usual overly-choreographed fight scenes and annoying shaking camera direction, the most enjoyable scene actually involves Trish Walker and Karen Page having a quiet discussion about their places in the lives of Jessica Jones and Matt Murdock. The scene features the two secondary characters sharing and withholding and Deborah Ann Woll and Rachael Taylor to play off one another in a way that is delightful to watch.

Unfortunately, that scene is one of the biggest character moments in the entire episode. The writers seem unable or unwilling to recall even the basic characterization of their protagonists. As such, when Daredevil needs a wall smashed to access the elevator down into the pit, he turns to Luke Cage. Sure, Cage has unbreakable skin, but Jones has super-strength that exceeds Cage's. One swift kick from Jones and the wall should have fallen. But, alas, the writers use the hulking Cage for the job instead of giving Jones a moment where she uses her super powers.

The Hand is troublingly represented in "The Defenders." Bakuto has been a terrible milquetoast of a villain in his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the footsoldiers for The Hand seem pathetically disposable, like Stormtroopers in the Star Wars Saga. Similarly, Murakami is a virtual non-entity, making him fairly unbelievable as being on the same level as Alexandra, Elektra and Gao. Madame Gao remains impressive, deriding Danny Rand in their big scene together. Moreover, Gao is smart enough to beat a hasty retreat at a key moment, which sets her up to be the continuing villain she has always had the potential to be (despite an unnecessarily vague final scene later).

"The Defenders" is the necessary conclusion to the rising action of The Defenders as the prior episode opened the door and made obvious the endgame; destroying the Midland Circle building. Surprisingly little else happens in "The Defenders," though there are necessary denouement scenes that set up the next season of Daredevil and give Misty Knight a chance to move in a direction her fans from the source material will love. But the climax of the big battle sequences is undermined by the same thing that ruined my hope of the Iron Fist getting killed in the episode and the only redeeming aspect of the final scenes of the series are that they do not insult the viewer's intelligence or awareness of that. Unlike something like the fifth season finale of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Joss Whedon's subsequent refusal to discuss over the season break how and when Sarah Michelle Gellar might return to the series, "The Defenders" goes for a big ending that seems to have the heroic sacrifice . . . but leaves the big players in play at the end of the season in an utterly disappointing way.

The result is an entirely anticlimactic season finale that does little to encourage viewers to tune in to the next Netflix Marvel series.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into The Defenders - The Complete First Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season of the street-level heroes here!
Thanks!]

For other Marvel Cinematic Universe season finales, please check out my reviews of:
"Valediction" - Agent Carter
"World's End"- Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Daredevil" - Daredevil

2.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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And It Gets Worse: "Felling Tree With Roots" Might Be The Worst Of Iron Fist!

The Good: Tom Pelphrey's performance
The Bad: Gross, Terrible character development, Stiff performances, Dull plot, Painfully predictable lines of dialogue
The Basics: "Felling Tree With Roots" might well be the worst hour ever produced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


At this point in Iron Fist, I am entirely going through the motions. With most Marvel Cinematic Universe works, I do all I can to experience the new work as soon as possible and review it. The Netflix Marvel Cinematic Universe television usually occupies an intense weekend as I watch and rewatch the new series over the course of two days. With the first season of Iron Fist, I found myself so unimpressed with the show that I could not bring myself to pound through the season twice. What I discovered during the rewatch was that I liked Iron Fist less than I thought.

So, by the time I got to "Immortal Emerges From Cave" (reviewed here!) and was alternately bored and horrified by it, it made it very hard for me to get at all enthusiastic about going back to Iron Fist to watch and review "Felling Tree With Roots." "Felling Tree With Roots" follows on the heels of "Immortal Emerges From Cave" and deals with Danny Rand reacting to the dangerous crucible of fights he just went through. "Felling Tree With Roots" also marks the return of Harold Meachum to the narrative in a very active way.

Opening with Harold Meachum waking up to a visit by The Hand's goons, Meachum is threatened, but before his fingers can be cut off, he kills the minions sent by Madame Gao. To throw The Hand off his killing the goons, Meachum cuts off his own finger, while a stunned Danny Rand watches. Back at Rand Enterprises, the wounded Ward Meachum is confronted by Joy. When Joy gets disgusted and leaves her brother, Harold calls his son for help with disposing of the bodies. At Colleen Wing's dojo, Wing stitches up Rand and the two discuss the nature of the Iron Fist and how Wing lost the chemist that Rand left in her care. While Rand and Wing have sex, Ward Meachum is called on by Harold to dispose of the bodies he created.

The next morning, Danny wakes up with Wing before going back to the office. There, Joy berates him for his irresponsibility with the business before Madame Gao shows up at Rand Enterprises. After Gao threatens Rand, she takes an elevator to the 13th floor where she has her heroin operation based. Returning to work, Rand makes plans to leave Rand Enterprises to pursue a better life for himself, much to the surprise of Joy. While Rand confronts Gao's lieutenant within his building, Wing is visited by her sensei, Bakuto, who questions her relationship with the Iron Fist. Joy is shocked when the board of Rand Enterprises ousts her and Ward over their poor handling of Danny's return. And when Ward's escape plan is threatened, he confronts Harold in a definitive conflict.

Danny Rand finally discovers just how deep Madame Gao's influence is in Rand Enterprises when he abruptly learns of her operation on the 13th floor of Rand Enterprises. The presence of Gao within the Rand Enterprises building might have been an audacious reveal had it been teased at all in any of the prior episodes. Gao's presence within the Rand Enterprises building has the unfortunate effect of undermining Gao's character, though. Gao is smart and something other than human, yet she leads Rand right to her lair and seems unaware of his presence in the next room after he arrives and listens in on her plans.

"Felling Tree With Roots" starts off with Harold Meachum making it clear that he is a more effective villain than most Marvel Cinematic Universe adversaries. Meachum is threatened and when Rand arrives, Harold capitalizes on the opportunity to dispatch his would-be assassins. Harold does not posture or talk up his game, he acts and that is a distinct difference from most Marvel Cinematic Universe villains.

In the process of illustrating Meachum's effectiveness, "Felling Tree With Roots" undermines Danny Rand's character even more. Rand witnesses Harold Meachum killing Gao's minions and he is only minimally shocked. In fact, Danny essentially accepts and goes along with Meachum's insistence that the goons were going to kill Danny and he helped Rand. Danny does not actually seem all that upset by Meachum violently murdering two people right in front of him.

That is followed by Rand and Colleen Wing making love for the first time. It is hard not to watch "Felling Tree With Roots" and ask, just what the hell does Danny Rand stand for anyway?! At the monastery, Rand was focused, celibate and kept at about the emotional maturity level of a ten year-old. Since returning to New York, Rand has beaten around the bush about how he abandoned K'un-Lun, was a bad pupil who frequently snuck out of the monastery to do things against the wishes of the monks, seems all right with people flat-out murdering in front of him and now breaking his vow of chastity. It is nice to see a hero who has an obvious weakness - Rand begins the episode unable to summon the Iron Fist because he was so drained by summoning it during Gao's tournament - but Danny Rand seems pretty well characterized as having nothing but weaknesses.

The only remotely bright spot in "Felling Tree With Roots" is Tom Pelphrey's performance of Ward Meachum. Ward is in the process of falling apart emotionally, a direct result of the increasingly gruesome tasks his father is giving him and things he is exposed to and his now out-of-control painkiller habit. Pelphrey plays the part competently, but even his character does not escape "Felling Tree With Roots" unscathed. In "Felling Tree With Roots," Ward is revealed to be an embezzler, undermining his few redeemable early character traits as actually caring about Rand Enterprises.

"Felling Tree With Roots" is plagued by stiff acting and one of the most passionless sex scenes ever created. Jessica Henwick and Finn Jones have no on-screen chemistry in "Felling Tree With Roots." Finn Jones's stiff performance is highlighted by Wai Ching Ho's charismatic and layered performance of Gao.

Ultimately, "Felling Tree With Roots" continues the unfortunate trend in Iron Fist of oscillating between gross and boring. That makes for deeply unsatisfying television.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Iron Fist - The Complete First Season, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season here!
Thanks!]

For other works with David Wenham, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Married Life
300
Van Helsing
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
Dark City

0/10

For other Marvel movie, television season and episode reviews, please check out my Marvel Cinematic Universe Review Index Page for a listing of those reviews!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Foggy's Turn To Shine On Daredevil Comes With "Nelson V. Murdock!"

The Good: Good acting, Moments of plot, Character development
The Bad: Direction, Somewhat plot light
The Basics: "Nelson V. Murdock" adds a number of key plot events to Daredevil as Matt Murdock recovers from nearly being killed in the prior episode.


When a show establishes itself, it usually has a pretty limited window for creativity. Most television series's take some time to figure out their look and feel and just what type of narrative structure the show will have. In Daredevil, the first season follows a formula that is very familiar to those who are fans of shows like Lost (reviewed here!). Daredevil episodes are building a main plot and each one focuses on one of the main characters and sprinkles the episode with flashbacks to that character's backstory. With "Nelson V. Murdock," Foggy Nelson finally gets his chance to shine.

"Nelson V. Murdock" is one of the rare episodes that requires a spoiler alert. Because of where the prior episode ended, the final moment of that episode frames "Nelson V. Murdock." For those who want surprise up through the end of "Speak Of The Devil," this is the last place to read before it becomes impossible to continue to read without a key surprise being ruined.

"Nelson V. Murdock" picks up right after "Speak Of The Devil" (reviewed here!). As a result, Foggy Nelson now knows the identity of the Masked Vigilante. In superhero stories where the protagonist takes up an alter ego to fight for others, there always comes a moment when the protagonist's cover is blown. How spy stories and comic book characters deal with their dual identities is a big moment and Daredevil has now been exposed to the first person who straddles both halves of his life (Claire Temple, alluded to but not seen in "Nelson V. Murdock," knows the identity of the Masked Man, but has no real interaction with Matt Murdock in his mundane form.

With Matt Murdock seriously wounded, Foggy discovers his alter-ego. Incensed, Foggy begins to question all that he knows about Matt Murdock. While Foggy tends to Matt, Madame Gao calls a meeting with Fisk and asks him when he will come for her. Fisk denies that she will ever be his target and she advises him to choose a path between darkness and light. Ben Urich visits his wife in the hospital and during her brief lucid moment, she advises him to be tenacious in his reporting. Urich is soon offered an opportunity at the New York Bulletin to move from reporting to editing and, given his wife's condition and Fisk outing himself as the "Savior" of Hell's Kitchen, he begins to seriously consider it.

As Karen is left to convince Urich to stick with reporting, Fisk meets with Owlsley. Owlsley has to be convinced to go speak with Gao and his fear at being eliminated next is palpable. Murdock tells Nelson about the incident that pushed him over the edge from "walking it out" to vigilante as Page shows Urich a nursing home that might care for his wife. Page's ruse is constructed around revealing to Urich a huge lead she found buried in Upstate New York. When Fisk throws a fundraiser to rebuild Hell's Kitchen, Foggy interrogates Murdock and gives his friend an ultimatum.

Until "Nelson V. Murdock," Foggy Nelson has been cast in the role of wisecracking sidekick. His arc has been to pursue the law while he harbors a crush for Karen Page. In "Nelson V. Murdock," he is given more depth and the spine he exhibited in "World On Fire" (reviewed here!) comes back out with a more personal bent.

While Elden Henson does a decent job of balancing both the wisecracks and the earnest emotional moments, Foggy's part in his own episode is robbed by the plot focus late in the episode on Wilson Fisk. Fisk's fundraiser is the site of a huge plot twist and it cuts the momentum out of the climactic Foggy moment.

On a virtually unrelated note, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe might be delighted by the allusion to The Incredible Hulk (reviewed here!). The Incredible Hulk might well be the least-alluded to film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In Ben Urich's office, one of the two New York Bulletin covers on the wall behind the reporter alludes to the Harlem destruction and explicitly references the Hulk! Roxxon from Agent Carter and background moments throughout the Iron Man movies is referenced when Murdock and Nelson take their stand against Landman & Zach.

The acting in "Nelson V. Murdock" is good and only Farren Blackburn's continued use of handheld cameras that make distracting movements during static moments robs the episode of being visually satisfying to watch. Even that movement is not enough to make "Nelson V. Murdock" unwatchable or even unpleasant. Instead, this is one of the better character-focused episodes of Daredevil.

For other works with Phyllis Somerville, be sure to check out my reviews of:
The Double
House Of Cards - Season 1
Fringe - Season 3
NYPD Blue - Season 3

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Daredevil - The Complete First Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season of the Man Without Fear here!
Thanks!]

8/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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One Of The Best Bridge Episodes Ever: "World On Fire" Has War Come To Hell's Kitchen (In A Near-Perfect Episode Of Daredevil

The Good: Performances, Plot progression, Character development, Surprises
The Bad: Direction
The Basics: "World On Fire" would have been a perfect episode of Daredevil, if only director Farren Blackburn had let it be!


Daredevil, for its first season anyway, got off to a bit of a rocky start. That is understandable in some ways; Daredevil has a number of core characters to introduce and a crime plotline that is more sophisticated than a simple "man sees injustice in the world, tries to do good" superhero plot. The rockiness of the inconsistent few establishing episodes faded by the season's fourth episode "In The Blood" (reviewed here!). Going into "World On Fire," Daredevil had the Big Mo back on its side (momentum). Unfortunately, for fans of Daredevil, the story is heading into a necessarily predictable direction and as a result, "World On Fire" gambles big on style over surprise.

At the core of the structural problem with "World On Fire" is the dichotomy being established between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. Daredevil Season 1 is a long origin story for both the vigilante hero and his primary adversary. The problem going into "World On Fire" is that any fan of comic books knows how the conflict must end. "In The Blood" peaked with Wilson Fisk antagonizing a war between the rival mobs in Hell's Kitchen and given that Fisk is moving to become The Kingpin the way Matt Murdock is evolving into Daredevil, Wilson Fisk's street war can only result in him vanquishing his foes and consolidating power over Hell's Kitchen.

So, "World On Fire" has to wow viewers with how it makes that happen over the surprise of "what will happen now that Wilson Fisk is at war with all of his business enemies?" And it does it!

Opening with Claire Temple cleaning up after being tortured by the Russian mobsters, Matt Murdock reveals more of his abilities to Temple. After convincing her to stay at his apartment, Temple gives Murdock the name of the Russian mobster who seems to be leading the local mob. Meanwhile, Wesley visits Vladimir and implicates the masked vigilante in the death of his brother. Arranging a meeting with the three other mobsters, Wilson Fisk comes clean to his other business partners about how he killed Vladimir's brother and plans to divide the Russian mob's interests among the remaining four.

After Daredevil attempts to find Vladimir, which results in one of the Russian mob lackeys getting arrested, Nelson & Murdock take the case of an old woman living in a rent controlled apartment who is being muscled out of her building. While visiting the police precinct for information on Tully, the slumlord, Murdock overhears the interrogation of the Russian by two corrupt detectives, who kill their prisoner. Page and Nelson visit the giant law firm of Landman and Zack where Foggy squares off against Marci Stahl, a woman he used to date. While Foggy and Karen work to help their client, Fisk has a date with Vanessa . . . which leads him to be exposed to Vladimir's wrath.

"World On Fire" treats viewers to the first images of exactly how Matt Murdock "sees" and that is executed well.

Charlie Cox and Rosario Dawson have amazing on-screen chemistry. As Matt Murdock treats Claire Temple's wounds, Cox plays the scene with such tenderness that it is almost erotic to watch. Rosario Dawson gives subtle eye and body reactions that make the viewer feel the lightness of Cox's touch on her skin. The teaser scene is remarkably sensual and it illustrates well that Cox was cast for more than just his good looks or ability to do fight scenes. After Claire reads the contents of the burner, Dawson emotes incredibly powerfully with only her eyes and that makes that scene heartbreaking (which is tough to do so early in a series).

As one who saw Deborah Ann Woll on screen for years on True Blood (reviewed here!) as Jessica Hamby, one of the delightful aspects of "World On Fire" is how she truly comes into her own with embodying Karen Page. Woll brings a sense of delight to Page while she and Foggy are having an impromptu date that is distinct and different from her True Blood role (which is important because the two characters' origins are remarkably similar). Woll and Henson (Foggy) have decent on-screen chemistry in "World On Fire."

On the character front, Foggy Nelson might well have the best scene of the episode. When he squares off against Marci, the scene is a delight to watch for anyone who has ever loathed the way corrupt businesses operate. Arguably, Nelson takes the high road to impress Page, but the scene still works. In a similar fashion, the way Fisk tries to interface with Vanessa gives Fisk more depth than most villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

"World On Fire" is also the emotional tipping point for viewers on the relationship between Wesley and Fisk. Fisk defines Wesley as his friend and that is part of a scene of emotional honesty that begs the question of why Wesley acts as the hand of Wilson Fisk. Smartly, "World On Fire" does not give it all away, but it starts to address that question. Wesley has been loyal and trusted by Fisk and by "World On Fire," enough has happened that viewers have to wonder "why?!" At least getting Fisk's perspective on the matter is a refreshing start.

Vincent D'Onofrio is incredible as Wilson Fisk. His body language is great and director Farren Blackburn captures the important cufflinks well.

Thus far in Daredevil, very little of the direction has stood out. Daredevil is very dark (which is should be). But in "World On Fire," Farren Blackburn's use of handheld camera is nauseating. That makes for a visually inconsistent episode as Blackburn segues between unwatchable shaky scenes and long, slow scenes with a controlled sense of movement. The latter type creates an amazing sense of tension in scenes like Fisk's date.

Ultimately, "World On Fire" is a bridge episode. It has to take Daredevil from where it has been to the next major plot arc. Bridge episodes are tough to do because the plot is usually a set-up, depending on the subsequent episodes for resolution. "World On Fire" packs the episode with character development and while it feels like a traditional bridge episode, the last few minutes of the bring satisfaction to fans of any incarnation of Daredevil who want to see how Fisk might accomplish his ascension. As a bridge episode, "World On Fire" does not complete the rise of the Kingpin, but it moves it all forward in a brilliant and entertaining way.

For other works with Bob Gunton, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Runner Runner
Highland Park
Argo
Numb
"The Wounded" - Star Trek: The Next Generation

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Daredevil - The Complete First Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season of the Man Without Fear here!
Thanks!]

9.5/10

For other television episode and movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Perhaps The Dumbest Fantasy Film In Years, Hammer Of The Gods Is A Huge Disappointment

The Good: Costumes? Cinematography?
The Bad: Terrible dialogue, Predictable plot, Awful acting, Conceptually ridiculous.
The Basics: The violent historic/fantasy epic Hammer Of The Gods is a stupid, homophobic, man-driven action film that is easily one of Summer Blockbuster Season’s least inspired outings.


As Summer Blockbuster Season enters full swing and the theaters get clogged with big budget, special effects-driven movies that try to dazzle viewers into forgetting about the heat and the fact that they are paying more than ever for movie tickets, some of the smaller studios are competing for screens. Hoping that when the big budget films sell out viewers will say “What the hell, we’re here anyway, let’s go to . . . “ [Looking over the list for the next film playing at the theater], Hammer Of The Gods arrives for what will undoubtedly be its lone week in wide release. Trying to capitalize on the success of Game Of Thrones (season two is reviewed here!) and Spartacus: War Of The Damned, Hammer Of The Gods is a cheesetastic fantasy/period piece that lacks the big budget effects or conceptual intrigue of even the recent Wrath Of The Titans (reviewed here!).

Very much a “guy’s movie,” Hammer Of The Gods features manly men going on a military-related quest (it’s no Saving Private Ryan!), making jibes at one another, saying “fuck” repeatedly for no particular reason, despising the one openly gay character in the movie, and presenting enough carnage for the white hat fratboys to get excited. This is not a thinking man’s movie or a flick that any woman is going to want to see (and I include fantasy lovers – there’s not enough of that element in the movie to justify sitting through it -, jocks, and bored women with an i.q. above 25. In fact, Hammer Of The Gods might serve best as a litmus test for women in new relationships this summer; if your guy wants to take you to see this movie on a date . . . run!).

In 871 Britian, Bagsecg calls for reinforcements for the Viking position in central Britain. As Bagsecg lays dying, his son, Prince Steinar, and his associates land ahead of a force of 500 Saxons coming to do battle with the Vikings. Bagsecg calls upon Steinar to find his lost firstborn son, Hakan, believing that he can lead the Vikings to victory. After trying to rescue a woman being stoned, Steinar and his men find Ivar, the last known man to see Hakan alive. After a challenge by Ivar, which threatens the Prince’s rectal integrity, Steinar is led into the woods where he fights masked men and loses the least likable members of his band.

Realizing that his other brother has forged a pact with the Saxons that involves getting rid of Steinar, Steinar is captured by enemy forces and saved only through the group’s lone woman, who avoided capture. Refusing to be converted to the Saxon’s emerging Christian Church, overcoming traitors and enemy warriors, Steinar meets with his older psychopathic brother.

Hammer Of The Gods is one of those films that, the longer it goes on, the viewer just finds themselves asking, “What is the point?” While the movie has decent costumes and was filmed in some pretty beautiful countrysides (presumably of Europe), but otherwise is an utter waste of money and time. As the movie spends inordinate amounts of time focused on infighting within Steinar’s band of un-merry Vikings to pad out the film with pointless swordfights among characters the viewer does not actually care about, boredom ensues. The characters wander from one meaningless episode to another on their quest to find Hakan, Steinar finds himself more and more alone. But, given that he is a brutish thug who pulls his sword as often on members of his own group as he does the Saxon enemies, it is hard to care.

Steinar is hardly a worthwhile protagonist and the fight his people are fighting (mostly offscreen) is not presented in a particularly compelling way. This is not this years’s 300 (reviewed here!); the characters, setting and situation do not come together to make the viewer root for the film’s hero. By the time Steinar finds the skull-decorated cave that houses Ulric, Hakan’s torture artist, and Hakan, they have stopped caring about how Hammer Of The Gods might be resolved.

Starring Charlie Bewley, Hammer Of The Gods is a tour de force of performances that leave absolutely no impression or belief that any of the performers in the work have any talent. Given that none of the characters have any real character development, there is not a lot of room for any of the performers to show much in the way of emotional range. This is a film where the casting call pretty much could have been “limbs intact, able to growl” as the casting desires. No one shines and none of the characters deliver an arc that is even remotely empathetic.

The result is that Hammer Of The Gods is a summer flick that is an utter flop, not worth spending the time watching.

For other war fantasy films, please check out my reviews of:
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
Masters Of The Universe
Immortals

1/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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