I’ve always been a fan of mythology. My love for the Greek and Roman kind go all the way back to when I took Latin in school and we learned bout The Gods creation of Man and all their meddling. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to appreciate 4other cultures, especially Nordic. I’ve been devouring Thor comics and love to hear about his fights with Loki and his father Odin’s fantastic battles. I’ve also loved hearing about their fantastic downfalls, and none better than their defeat against the Ragnarok.

In Nordic mythology, the Ragnarok is known as “The Fate of the Gods, or The Twilight of the Gods.” It’s a cataclysmic event that caused natural disasters to destroy the world, plunge it into water, and then have it reemerge as new. In the film, the Ragnarok is an ancient sea creature that kills people, seemingly for no purpose. Or is5 there?

The film follows Pål Sverre Hagen as Sigurd Svendsen, an archeologist and single father who has found an ancient Viking ship that he believes holds the mysteries of The Ragnarok. Inside the ship Svendsen has found runes that speak of Ragnarok, something that has never before been seen in Norse mythology. None of his museum investors share his sentiments, and he’s cut from the program. 

As fate would have it, his fellow archeologist comes across a rune stone that further reveals the secrets of the Ragnarok; so the two adventurers sneak back to the museum to match the rune stone up with the artifacts that they’ve already found. It’s there, where a map is revealed that takes them to Finmark to search for ‘The Eye of Odin’ and one step closer to the Ragnarok. Being a single dad that promised the kids a Summer 2vacation, Sigurd takes them along on with them on his adventure.

I don’t want to ruin the movie, but I will say that I enjoyed it. It’s Not Rated, and I’m assuming that’s because of our American Ratings system vs whatever they use in Norway. The film is most definitely PG, and besides a couple of scares, is an adventure movie for the whole family. The music is set in the style of a John Williams score, and the film is shot beautifully. Going through the landscapes of Norway was absolutely breathtaking.

If I had to criticize anything about the film, it’s the fact that we don’t see the creature until the 1:10 mark. The filmmakers do a good job of playing the slow burn and I enjoyed the anticipation, but I didn’t even realize how long the movie had been going on until I looked at the timer and realized we had our first reveal of Ragnarok.

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Highlights:

  • The time-jumping between Viking times and present day
  • The CGI on the creature
  • The landscapes and mythology

Lowlights:

  • Sigurd just letting his kids wander in the Finmark wilderness
  • How long it takes to see the monster
  • The monster is driven by a purpose in the film, but it’s killing before that don’t seem to be for any reason at all

I give Ragnarok 3 outta 5 stars. I loved the way it looked and the score, as well as the story. The length of time it takes for us to see the creature and the fact that it didn’t have a good resolution is why it loses two stars. If you’re looking for a fun adventure movie that you can show your kids though, this is a great film for you. You get the scares of Jaws and Jurassic Park, with none of the blood.

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Ragnarok is a Magnet Releasing film that is due out On Demand and in theaters on August 15th. The film is directed by Mikkel Brænne Sandemose and stars: Pål Sverre Hagen, Nicolai Cleve Broch, Sofia Helin, and Bjorn Sundquist. Make sure to check out its main website and Facebook page to learn more!

~Chaz

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