Vikings: Season 3 (2015)

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

What I liked: 

• The battle scenes. They are still incredibly well done, and always thrilling to watch.
• The score for the show is so suiting and it comes together well.
• How things skipped between Wessex, Kattegat and wherever the vikings were raiding and warring.
• The understanding yet mistrust that is evident between Ragnar and King Ecbert.
• Seeing how faith is still so important here. Athelstan finally got his “sign”, so to speak, and it brought him great happiness, though it definitely threw him back to the status of outcast. Ragnar was not too bothered about Athelstan’s faith, as long as they were friends. Later, it was immensely interesting to see how Christian vs Nordic faith had become such an issue for Ragnar, and how it tore at him.
• The siege that went down in Paris! OMG! You all know that I am immediately sold the second there is a siege. This was no different. It was intense, it was bloody, it was vicious, violent and seemed so superfluous at the best of times.
• The concept of who the real barbarians are. The vikings are painted as uncouth animals due to their traditions, but when you look at what the Christians do, they are equally savage in their own way. So ultimately, who is at fault here?

Both of these scenes just gave me goosebumps…

What I didn’t like: 

• Floki really went all darkside here. It was well done, but it crushed me, it didn’t gel always. At the end of season two it was presented that the strife between Ragnar and Floki was all fake, yet in this season it started up and they were immediately at odds again.
• End of season two showed us that Ragnar was all in love with Lagertha again, and that they were not together, but she was aware. Here we return and Ragnar simply doesn’t love Princess Aslaug anymore, but nothing is happening with Lagertha, either, so it just felt a little pointless.

Rating:
I have been eagerly awaiting the new season of Vikings. The show is that good. When it was time to watch, my fiancé and I made the laughable decision of “watching one episode over brunch” which, naturally, turned into the whole season. Bang. Just like that. Over. It was worth every second of the time spent watching it. There was just so much going on in this season I didn’t even know where to start. I obviously expected Kalf to screw Lagertha over, that was going to happen, and King Ecbert cannot be trusted even when your eyes are on him, so there were no surprises there, though both takeovers were handled extremely well. I was not a fan of how it started with Ragnar and Floki at odds again, I genuinely thought that they had sorted things out, but here we were with them once again. It didn’t progress as smoothly as it could have. I was devastated to see Floki finally take that step against Ragnar and kill Athelstan, it was truly something that crushed me. He was a favourite character of mine. Ouch. Religion was again important here, and it brought about some crazy things all over the show, I was a huge fan of how that was done. The brutality was not held back here again, and I think that the History channel is onto something with this show. The cast does wonders with the material that they are given, and there are so many moments where your heart jumps into your throat before you can even process what has happened. The vikings moving on to invade France was something I have been waiting for for ages now, there is so much that could be going on there and I was dead right in that assessment. It was brutal, violent, extreme, entertaining and nerve-wracking, so the goods were delivered in typical Vikings style. Floki has definitely finally lost his marbles, and his descent into madness is a gripping watch. Well worth the watch!

Rapid Review: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

“You’re getting older, and you’ll see that life isn’t like your fairy tales. The world is a cruel place. And you’ll learn that, even if it hurts.”
– Carmen

SYNOPSIS: In 1944 falangist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she’s a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again. – via IMDB

I have been meaning to watch this film in its entirety for years. Really. But, typical of life, something keeps coming up. I have seen sections of it throughout the years though, but never the whole thing, so I was so happy to see it picked for Film Club a while back. Starting off, I liked the way the movie looked. Dark and gloomy but pretty, very intricate. The way the fairy tale is told right at the beginning draws you in, and I think it is so successful because it is pretty dark, not this light and fluffy ordeal. No happily ever after right there.

Meeting Ofelia, you just know you are about to be pulled into something magical, something different. I think that Ivana Baquero was absolutely brilliant in her role, and she had my support every step of the way. This was a girl I was going to root for. I think that the casting for the movie was very well done, everyone carried their own and I enjoyed watching them. Maribel Verdú, Sergi López and Álex Angulo particularly stood out as the sweet and brave Mercedes, the cruel and callous Captain Vidal and the compassionate and kind-hearted Doctor Ferriero. The complex relation between them was fascinating to watch.

I was a big fan of the way the fantasy and reality were crafted in Pan’s Labyrinth. It definitely was something to experience. It was stooped in extremely harsh reality, what with the Captain Vidal, Ofelia’s ill mother and a war to boot. However, on the other side was the oddly fantastical but no less dangerous world of the faun and his enigmatic labyrinth and all the tasks she is given to complete to prove herself the Princess Moanna, daughter of the King of the Underworld. The story is wholly engrossing, and I did not find my attention wandering once, and the pacing is exactly what it needed to be. The film utilised every second it had to weave the tale we got.

I fully maintain that Guillermo del Toro is phenomenal when he does foreign Spanish films. Both this and The Devil’s Backbone were infinitely more engrossing than his English films, and have significantly better stories and portrayals. I certainly have a preference when it comes to his work. If it is foreign, I am there. They just seem so much more genuine and heartfelt. I can definitely say that Pan’s Labyrinth is well worth the watch, shot beautifully, and tells a exquisite, dark fantasy tale.

Fairytale Pictures Sporadic Scene: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) – The Departure of Boromir

I have great pleasure in presenting Satu of Fairytale Pictures today with her Sporadic Scene of choice. Naturally, I think she chose wonderfully 😉

---

Just because: “I would have followed you, my brother. My captain. My king.”

If you have a scene that you would like featured, drop me a mail at sporadiczoe@hotmail.com with a picture/gif/video of the scene and an explanation as to why (should you want to include it).

Sporadic Scene: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) – You Shall Not Pass

There are just too many epic scenes to pick from this trilogy! One such scene was the awesome scene with Gandalf the Grey and the Balrog. When the Fellowship was fleeing the Mines of Moria, they were unfortunate enough to encounter a nasty Balrog, who was intent on having someone. Gandalf stood against the Balrog in an attempt to get the Fellowship out safely, and while he was doing so delivered some pretty cool lines.

If you have a scene that you would like featured, drop me a mail at sporadiczoe@hotmail.com with a picture/gif/video of the scene and an explanation as to why (should you want to include it).

Sporadic Scene: The Phantom Menace (1999) – Darth Maul vs Obi-Wan & Qui-Gon Jinn

I know that a lot of people complain about the Prequel Trilogy, but it isn’t that bad, though it isn’t as great as the Original Trilogy, of course (put your rocks away people). One thing that they did have that was superior to the Original Trilogy were the lightsabers as well as the battles that people found themselves in. For instance, the lightsaber battle between Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn is one of the fastest, most brutal and intense of all the movies. It was pretty darn epic, even though the rest of The Phantom Menace was incredibly weak.

If you have a scene that you would like featured, drop me a mail at sporadiczoe@hotmail.com with a picture/gif/video of the scene and an explanation as to why (should you want to include it).