Sometimes the simple things seem to be the most difficult. Like finding your way back home. Then again, even with all the transportation possibilities today some have issues reaching their goal, let alone back when this movie is supposedly playing. It's a decent effort into the viking territory and it has the flair of movies from the 80s, when a group/handful of guys were trying to reach a destination or just try to stay alive.

The effects are good, the camera is nice (copying the middle land moves we've learned to love from Peter Jackson, relishing on sights and so forth),the acting is OK too, considering the genre this is playing at and all the clichés involved. It won't be hard to guess what will be coming up most of the time, mixing a lot of known and working formulas, this is a pleasant time waster ...

A small boat full of exiled Vikings get marooned on Scotland, which doesn't want them either. Asbjorn (Tom Hopper) leads the group who happen to defeat a troop of soldiers and capture the princess (Charlie Murphy) the film's sole eye candy. They plan to ransom her off to her father for enough money to buy their way into a Viking settlement in the south. The plans go bad when they find out the rescue army wants to kill the princess, which they claim are the orders of the King. The Vikings are aided by a fighting monk (Ryan Kwanten) with a staff. Oh yes the princess can read the ground too. Ed Skrein leads the Scots who appear to be one chromosome away from Orcs.

The film consists of Vikings running away from Scots, getting caught by Scots, fighting Scots and running away from Scots. The love story doesn't develop. The fight scenes weren't bad, but not memorable. Acting isn't bad for people who grunt.

Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity. Charlie Murphy cleavage. Tom Hopper beefcake.

What the hell is wrong with reviewers nowadays? Who rates low a viking movie that is filled with action and interesting characters? Why would you watch a viking movie otherwise? For the romance?

This film has a classic story of a team of fearless warriors stuck in a foreign land and hunted by their enemies. Somehow a monk and a princess get into the mix, some Viking vs Scot fights, but most of the action is related to the pack of mercenary "Wolves" that are hunting them down to get the princess. They're from the Carpathians, so really mean :)

The acting is good, the action sequences well done and the entire film is entertaining from start to end. There are some weird scenes with rough warriors that care nothing of death suddenly shouting "Noooo!" when a friend dies, or random characters surviving the impossible and appearing out of nowhere, or people all speaking the same language, but overall everything is well done.

Bottom line: this is not a Hollywood movie, it's a German coproduction, but it barely shows, mainly in the accents of the actors (who should be Vikings anyway). I have seen many other "Viking movies" that are way worse that this and I personally enjoyed this quite a lot. Who knew Ryan Kwanten could be such a badass?