22 | June | 2020 | Movie Reviews 101

Director: Fenar Ahmad

Writer: Fenar Ahmad, Adam August (Screenplay) Peter Madsen (Comics)

Starring: Roland Moller, Salome Gunnarsdottir, Patricia Schumann, Jacob Lohmann, Andreas Jessen, Lara Johanna Jonsdottir, Saxo Moltke-Leth, Cecilia Loffredo

Plot: The Viking children Røskva and Tjalfe embark on an adventurous journey from Midgard to Valhalla with the gods Thor and Loki. Life in Valhalla, however, turns out to be threatened by the dreaded Fenrir wolf and the god’s barbaric archenemies, the Jotnar. Side by side with the gods the two children must fight to save Valhalla from the end of the world – Ragnarok.

Tagline – Let the journey begin

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Dark Norse God Story

Story: Valhalla: Legend of Thor starts in a small village where children Tjalfe (Moltke-Leth) and Roskva (Loffredo) live, they get visits from Gods, with Thor (Moller) being one of the most regular, Thor offers to take Tjalfe and Roskva back to Valhalla, the home of the Gods, with his brother Loki (Al-Jabouri), where the two will have a chance to learn about the home of the Gods.

As the two children learn more about Valhalla, they find themselves separated, with Roskva learning she could be part of a prophecy that could bring about the end of the Valhalla, with the Ragnarok event happening, the two must work with the Gods to stop this happening.

Thoughts on Valhalla: Legend of Thor

Characters – Tjalfe is the mortal who is selected to go to Valhalla, he is taken and takes his young sister in this journey, where he starts to lose his faith in the gods, falling into the hands of the giants, the greatest enemies of the gods. Roskva is the younger sister who learns her place in the world, she is bigger than the gods believed, being a sign for the end of the world in Valhalla, proving herself along the way. Thor is guiding the mortals through Valhalla, he isn’t like anything we have seen in comic book movies, but he is a warrior that will step up to any challenge, Loki is calmer and smarter that his brother, he will fight when needed, but is always needing to be watched.

Performances – We have a strong cast here with both child stars Cecilia Loffredo and Saxo Moltke-Leth both showing the learning side, while the God characters played by Roland Moller and Dulfi Al-Jabouri working very well too, being different to anything we have seen before.

Story – The story here follows two mortals being taken to the world of the gods, where they find themselves important parts of the battle for power between the gods and giants. When you hear the name Thor, you automatically think of the Marvel superheroes, plenty of flash, only the original origins of Thor, Odin, Loki and others comes from Norse mythology, this story dives into the Norse mythology for the story showing the heroes like warriors instead of superheroes, what we end up with is something that we have seen many legends, myth or fables of the past achieve in the battle to survive. It does show us how gods were seen from the history behind them, showing us a new way to understand the heroes of the past.

Adventure – The adventure takes the two children are taken to a new world where they are able to make an impact in a fight for the land, a position they have never been able to be in at their home.

Settings – The locations used are beautiful, with the open spaces being truly breath taking, while the interiors showing the darker environment the characters would be in.

Scene of the Movie – Fenrir first appearance.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The contests.

Final Thoughts – This is a much darker, but truer to the origin of the Norse gods mythology, it is an adventure that shows the reason for the connection between the two worlds.

Overall: Entertaining Mythology Movie.

Signature Entertainment presents Valhalla: Legend of Thor on DVD & Digital HD from June 29th

This is under V because of director Jovanka Vuckovic.

Director: Jovanka Vuckovic

Writer: Katherine Collins (Screenplay)

Starring: Madison Iseman, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Munro Chambers, Jenny Raven, Atticus Mitchell, Ajay Friese, Caron MacCormac, Alexandre Bourgeois, Darren Eisnor

Plot: In an alternate 1995, a mysterious disease has wiped out all of the adults. In this new age, two gangs are pitted against each other in a brutal war for territory, resources and survival.

Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Flashy

Story: Riot Girls starts as we enter a world where the adults have all died and the kids run the world with the town split in too, we have Nat (Iseman) and Scratch (Kwiatkowski) in a group with Jack (Dourgeois) helping each other.

When Jack is captured by the Titans and their leader Jeremy (Chambers), Nat, Scratch and Sony (Friese) goes in search of rescuing him to hopeful help save their side of the town.

Thoughts on Riot Girls

Characters – Nat and Scratch are the two best friends in this world, Nat is the more everyday of the two, while Scratch is a rebel without a cause figure, the two do have a strong friendship and will fight for each other in this world. Jeremy is the leader of the Titans, he expects everyone to follow his orders or they will be punished. Jack is the leader of friendly group who gets captured and is the reason the girls go in search for rescuing.

Performances – Madison Iseman is making an impact in this film in recent years, this continues to show her playing the similar role she is getting thrown into, Paloma Kwiatkowski is good as the rebellious figure in the film, with Munro Chambers returning to the same genre as Turbo Kid.

Story – The story here follows two girls in a world divided by a disease which took the world’s adults and then ends up leaving two sides of town fighting over the resources. This end of the world story has been done with the teens trying to take over before, we have had eccentric groups before, sadly, this one doesn’t seem to come to life in the way others have, it does feel too short and with the random amounts of pure violence happening, before going calm, the tone get lost in the story quickly. This is a story you could have fun with though, it does try to have its own style, it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Action/Sci-Fi – The action in the film goes from small fight to death fights, they do seem to go through things very fast which don’t seem to be long played out fights. The sci-fi world does show us what has happened, only not showing the full effect of the world.

Settings – The film hints we are in one town, only we need cars to get from each side, the world doesn’t seem to have fallen into much destruction either, it just feels like an everyday routine.

Special Effects – The effects in the film are used for the blood splatter, we don’t use them too often though.

Scene of the Movie – The check point.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – More, flash than substance.

Final Thoughts – This is a flashy sci-fi film has its own style which doesn’t quite live up to the genre that it is similar too, you can have fun with it too.

Overall: Not Quite a Riot.