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The Last King Movie Review

The Last King is a 2016 Norwegian historical war film directed by Nils Gaup. It’s such an entertaining, visually dazzling feature.

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“She gave birth to my son, Håkon Håkonsson.

He shall inherit the throne“

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During the civil war in Norway in 1206, two men protect the illegitimate son of the king so that he can claim the throne. This film is set in what is the darkest period in Norwegian history, an era where there were dozens of pretenders to the throne and when future was uncertain. The skiing chase in this film is based on real life events, which are famous and celebrated in this country to this day.

The problem here is that the movie is highly historically inaccurate according to historians. Not only are the little details such as costumes and a way of life somewhat untruthful, but the two fractions were obviously not as black and white as they were depicted here. The movie has a ridiculously cartoonish outlook on these fractions, making the script seem thin and unsophisticated.

With that being said, I still really enjoyed The Last King for what it is, which is a spirited Medieval adventure set in a gorgeous snowy landscape. We have rarely seen this setting as it was depicted here so gloriously and the movie surely is epic and incredibly entertaining.

It is interesting how anachronistic skiing seems in a Medieval setting, but actually skis were obviously invented back then. The resulting action on skis and horses as they race through the snowy slopes was just incredible to witness. I was having a blast watching the major chases in the movie, especially the last one that was gloriously executed across the board. This is the kind of elaborate action set pieces that I simply adore.

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The Last King is visually breathtaking with beautiful scenery of these harsh wintery landscapes. The score is also strong as is the editing while the directing is solid too. The characters are fine, albeit not too remarkable. Skjervald clearly steals the movie from everybody else as he got the best and most moving arc while the main villain is suitably creepy. The script is thinner than I would have liked, but at least the movie is engaging from start to finish, which is not something that most Medieval epics can boast of.

The Last King is an underrated gem from Norway. It’s a visually dazzling Medieval epic set in the wintery landscapes and featuring some stunning action set pieces. The final sequence where they fight on skis and horses on snowy slopes was a spectacle to behold. It’s an immensely entertaining epic that is set in a very dark and interesting period in Norwegian history, but its historical inaccuracy and simplistic storytelling did take the movie down a notch or two.

My Rating – 4