Review of Pathfinder (2007) by Nick B — 30 Nov 2009

Pathfinder goes back many, many years and spins a tale of a Native tribe discovering a young white child to be the lone survivor on a wrecked viking ship, which they take in as their own. Now grown-up, the man (Karl Urban, in a fine leading role) embodies the tribe's cultures, including the ritual of embracing destiny and turning into a Pathfinder, which he cannot obtain since he is still cursed by the viking past he remembers.

Unexpectedly, more vikings wash ashore, including some greats like Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs from Spongebob Squarepants, Highlander, etc) and Ralf Moeller (Beerfest, Seed), and start viciously slaughtering Urban's tribe, including his adopted parents.

Urban seeks vengeance and begins a mission to take down this small army of bloodthirsty vikings. Helping along the way is the very attractive Moon Bloodgood (Terminator: Salvation) and Russell Means (pretty much regulated to the same role in all his films, but damn, does he do it well.

Very fun to watch). Though the film dances between truth and fiction in terms of actual history, the story is pretty entertaining and fun. I like action movies. I like period pieces. This combines two things I love, which works very well for me.

Given the material everyone has to work with, this is pretty much a great showcase of everyone's physical abilities, given the small amount of dialog. I very much enjoyed the viking actors' usage of the Norse language, which seemed to heighten the movie a bit for me.

Great direction from Marcus Nispel, who also directed the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th remakes. Overall, a fairly entertaining movie.