Review of Conan the Barbarian (2011) by Matthew K — 04 Aug 2012

This was better than I anticipated...but still not very good. All the production stills I saw made it look like a bad episode of Xena, but I must say that most of the movie does look pretty good and the action is pretty good if uncreative. This actually makes it more disappointing.

This franchise is ripe for a remake, but this isn't it. Considering the source material is already there and filled with rich, fleshed out characters, it's seems pretty stupid that the plot would be centered around a macguffin. Jason Momoa was a good choice for Conan, but he's given nothing to work with here. A pity seeing as how he is a very intense actor (see his run on 'Game of Thrones' for much better). Everyone else is forgettable stock fantasy character (loyal best friend, thief with a heart of gold, spoiled female character who comes to admire the lead and eventually fall in love with him). The villains suck and are no fun at all.

Go watch the original with Arnie. For all it's faults, it's still a pretty decent (and dark) fantasy flick that is driven by character and not some silly artifact.