Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Considering that we do not know what exactly happened in those times and we can only speculate on the events written about in various chronicles, I would say this movie is not too bad, trying to depict the Rus conversion into Christianity era. Personally I think Vladimir chose the Christian religion for convenience. It united his populace and in addition he a wife of imperial blood, which would have added some prestige for him on the European political stage. I do not think he was a great warrior, being surrounded by the Varangian mercenaries or councillors like his uncle Dobrynya, who possibly did all the fighting for him, or the traitors like Blud or Anastas who gave him clues (Blud betrayed Yaropolk and Anastas sent him clue about Cherson's water pipes), but I believe he was ok strategist. Movie in general is nicely shot, as close as possible to the brutal times. I would have preferred more details on how he chose the religion, such as sending envoys to Khazaria, Constantinople, Holy Roman Empire or the land of Jews. I think the scene with pushing down the boats on the Pechenegs was total nonsense, but ah well, I suppose that is how the movie director envisioned the events.

As a sympathetic but apostate former Christian, I am intrigued by a specific sub-genre: dramatizations of the historical adoption of monotheism by pagan cultures. My guard does go up if the film is of the solemn hagiograhy variety, presenting the change as a solemn inevitability (ala most"life of Muhammed" stories.)To my mind, this film "Viking" smuggles a respectable monotheism epic into audiences' attention by disguising it as a visceral Game of Thrones style feud-fest. However, it nonetheless managed to retain my goodwill by packaging it with entertaining spectacles, mostly grounded in dramatically satisfying character motivations and arcs driving the conflict. In the process it averted hagiography (At least until the end when an aftertaste of sanctity seems to hover over the film. SPOILER: the protagonist turns out to become a Russian Orthodox saint.)However, that whiff may well be my own prejudice showing. To my less- encumbered cineaste's eye, the contrast between the smoky, muddy, bloody world of the Rus for most of the film, and the golden sunlit skies and mosaic-laden Christian universe that appears progressively more towards the climax, makes the religion appear impressively enticing, even to this apostate. It's an uplifting transition, one that ultimately reduces to a fake-out the cynical quote from Mao which appeared in the film's opening. I did find the film had some shortfalls, mostly common to other historical epics.It can be hard to distinguish one bearded or armoured character from another, both spear-carriers and variously expendable secondary characters, either in repose or in a rain- curtailed action scenes.The film is overlong, and displays intermittent awkward compromises between historical veracity and dramatic necessities.However, on balance, it still skillfully held my attention throughout; showcased some vivid cinematography and speed- ramped action; and generated moderate star-wattage from a couple charismatic performances.

It is always difficult to make a movie based on historical facts. One must do a thorough research and properly put those facts in the movie. But one should also try to make that movie interesting and entertaining. Otherwise you'll get a protracted documentary.First of all, the title has almost nothing to do with the story. The story indeed follows the historical facts, but is told in such a messy way, full of illogical, irrational and unjustifiable events and decisions that it is tiresome to watch. You will find illogicality and complete idiocy even during the fight scenes. Moreover, this movie has no specific plot, no higher agenda and no epic moments, which all makes it difficult for the spectators to connect with the story.The story is practically about just one person and I kept wondering why it is so. Throughout the whole movie, the main character is completely and utterly useless, failing each and every challenge in front of him. Call it a paradox, but he somehow managed to fail even when he was winning. I wonder if director's decision was to purposely make this character so weak and clumsy. If it was, it's a bad decision because no one wants to watch a 2-hour movie where the main protagonist is a weakling and an idiot. If it wasn't, then the director has totally failed at his creation. I didn't "see" the main character. I didn't believe in him for one moment. He is not strong, he is not smart, he is not a great warrior, and not a great leader. So why is he the main character?I do not blame any of the actors, they really did their best. I blame the writers and the producers for ruining the potential this story had. Thus, I do not recommend this movie, there are far better ways to spend your time than watching this nonsense.

I saw this movie in St. Petersburg, Russia last weekend. I don't know Russian history in-depth so I can only evaluate this film as entertainment (not a history lesson). This film is made on a grand scale and it shines in some of the epic battle scenes of which there are plenty. Others didn't fare as well as they were filmed in dark fog which made them tedious and hard to watch. When the battle scenes work, they work well but when they don't, they slow the film's momentum. I also felt the story left me dangling by not doing any followup on Vladimir's relationships with with his young wife Rogneda, and Anne. All in all, the movie feels redundant after a while and runs a little too long. Still, that doesn't detract from some the fantastic battles earlier in the film which make this movie worth watching.