Outlander

Outlander is the story Jesus defeating an alien menace along with some Vikings. No sorry, it’s not that blasphemous or interesting. Outlander, however, is a fun sci-fi romp starring Jim Caveziel who played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ as a space warrior-hero type, who accidently crash lands on the planet earth in medieval times. The hero accidently brings a dangerous alien menace that he is trying to kill along with him. The creature in called a “morowin”, and is a dangerous and lethal killer. The outlander is captured by Vikings, and he eventually must team up with the warriors of the village to defeat the Morowin. A predictable but interesting romance develops between the outlander and the Viking chief’s rebellious daughter.

Outlander is an enjoyable film. Great action and special effects, coupled with a fairly original story make this movie fun and entertaining to watch. The morowin special effects are well done, and the design of the creature is pretty unique.

I did not enjoy the annoying references to the Viking ballad Beowulf that the film makes. The king in the film is called Hrothgar, and a few other names of characters from the ballad were re-used in this movie. I can’t remember all the references that were made. I feel that if they wanted to remake Beowulf, they just should have done it. I got the same annoying feeling as I watched The 13^th Warrior. Does every Viking adventure have to reference Beowulf now? We’ve had the big budget remake with Angelina Jolie, and we’ve had the awful Christopher Lambert version from the early nineties. I’m talking awful by my standards by the way. At least 13^th Warrior preceded the Angelina Jolie version. People, just make a fun Viking adventure if you want to, but stop trying to make a spin off the Beowulf myth.

If the new Thor movie has references to Beowulf again, I’m walking out. I’ll probably walk back in again, since I don’t have money to waste and hate not seeing the end of movies, but I’ll find some way to be visibly indignant without losing my $8.00 investment.