Review of Conan the Barbarian (2011) by Anssi V — 23 Dec 2013

My first reaction upon hearing that they were going to make a new Conan the Barbarian film was to ask: "Why?" The original, starring Arnold "Adorable Accent" Schwarzenegger, is a cult classic for a very good reason. No improvement needed. Still, the trailer did look intriguing, the special effects upgrade is usually a good thing and quite honestly I liked Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones. So I decided to give this one a chance.

Well, it's not terrible. Had I had no expectations or had I not seen the original, I think that I would have liked this one okay. It's a decent enough adventure/fantasy film. The plot is pretty much rubbish, none of the characters get enough characterization for them to be interesting and as a whole it's not very memorable, but I could have enjoyed it for the action and the visuals. But it's a remake, which unfortunately means that comparing it to the original is inevitable.

And really, this film's biggest problem is its name. Had they called it The Mask of Acheron or something other than Conan the Barbarian, people would have liked it well enough. Jason Momoa is charismatic enough in a rough sort of way to carry this kind of film, but Schwarzenegger he is not, which pulls the impressions down.

So, is it worth seeing? Well, if you're a huge fan of fantasy genre or you really want to see the world of Conan in film, you might find this a great experience. For casual fans of fantasy and action this is probably a bit of a bore. I don't regret seeing it, but I could have lived without it as well.