Review of The 13th Warrior (1999) by Filipeneto — 24 Apr 2018

This movie is a bit contradictory to me. It's a movie worth seeing if we just want pure entertainment, but it does not have enough quality for us to think of it as a really good movie. The action centers on the participation of an Arab ambassador in a Nordic military expedition, sent to protect an isolated village that was being attacked by some sort of evil creature. And the weaknesses of the plot begin to appear before us: what would motivate an Arab sultan to want to maintain diplomatic ties with the tribal peoples of Northern Europe? They could never help in case of war because they are too far away, and commercial relations were impracticable at that time because of the enormous distance between them. It seems the idea did not come from the script, but from a novel in which the film is based, but it does not matter. It's still hard to swallow. Another point that drew my attention in the negative is the portrayal of the Norse as an illiterate people who needed an Arab to write their own story. The writer certainly forgot that the Norse are the inventors of a particularly well known writing system, the runic alphabet. Even for an age where teaching was rare, it is believable that Beowulf, as a prince, had at least some notions about this writing system, thus not needing a foreigner to "draw sounds" for him.

The strong point of the film is the combat scenes. They were thought out in detail and deserved the attention of the technical team. The idea of ​​"bearsmen" is also good, but it is difficult for me to believe that the Norse, warlike as they prove to be, believed in that story of the creature of fire. There is a huge contradiction latent in that: if the Norse are bellicose and bragging, why would they flee from an army with torches thinking it is a hellish serpent? In the first attack it is quite evident that they are men, not frightening creatures out of our worst nightmares. There's no sense in really believing that.

António Banderas is literally the man of the movie. He appears, he shines, he makes a good participation. Omar Shariff also deserves an honorable mention for his fleeting appearance. He's an old-timer, with excellent diction and he is perfectly at ease in the role. The sets and costumes are good, they make the audience feel truly Northern Europe and the Viking environment. It's a shame that the script has not been reviewed and improved, as this would have made this film substantially more positive.