My Favourite Movies: Outlander

I like both movies and books that mix genres – at least when they do it well. This movie is a good example of what can be done when a bit of thought is applied to an interesting idea. The story revolves around an alien soldier Kainan who’s ship crash lands on Earth in 8th Century Scandinavia. What he quickly discovers is the cause of the crash was far from natural. Stowed away aboard is another alien creature called a Moorwen, a creature straight out of legend. Possessing incredible strength, cunning and a deep need for revenge against Kainan’s people for the devastation of its home planet, the Moorwen begins to kill everything and everyone in its path. The only thing that Kainan can do is hope that the fighting skills of the local population can help him kill the beast. Luckily for Kainan the skills of the local population are impressive indeed – for they are Vikings and are not afraid of dragons!

I honestly laughed when I saw the trailer for this movie. Amongst the group there were more than a few eyes being rolled. I thought it would be fun – if it worked and truly dire if it didn’t. Fortunately – at least as far as I was concerned – it worked for me. Despite the fact that the hero – played by Jim Caviezal - was a bit wooden and slightly two dimensional he was (just) enough of a presence to carry his role well enough. Ron Perlman was rather wasted as the leader of an opposing clan and John Hurt, now well past his prime, phoned in his role as the King of the clan at the centre of the Moorwen’s new territory. This was indeed in every sense a B movie but, wisely, had no pretentions beyond that. It was above all else entertaining – partially because you could play spot the cultural/mythological reference which the writer/director plundered along the way. Don’t expect anything overly original here. The core of the story is clearly based on the tale of Beowulf with elements of other Nordic myths and even a nod to Lord of the Rings in places. Do, however, expect to be entertained without being mentally taxed for 110 minutes. Oh, and as in some previous discussions can you guess who ends up as the leader of the victorious clan at the end……? It appears that it’s quite a common theme [grin].