CONAN THE BARBARIAN
US, 2011, 113 minutes. Colour.
Jason Momoa, Stephen Lang, Rachel Nichols, Ron Perlman, Rose Mc Gowan, Leo Howard, Nonso Anozie, Said Taghmaoui.
Directed by Marcus Nispel.
Thirty years ago, there was a fad for swords and sorcery movies. The best-known of these was Conan the Barbarian, followed by Conan the Destroyer. And, of course, it starred in pre-Terminator days, the future governor of California. I don’t think he has to worry about his Conan laurels. And, though not gifted with political prophecy, I don’t think Jason Momoa will ever be governor of California (but the Reagan era put paid to such non-prophecies).
This version is quite ugly and brutal all the way through. (And the Foley talent works very hard and loud with bone-crunching effect.) Conan, in a rare moment of pause let alone reflection, says after Tamara, the heroine who looks demure but learns to despatch enemies with Conan-like gusto, asks Conan whether there is any meaning in existence or whether it is all chaos rather than destiny, ‘I live, I love, I slay, I am content’. Seems as though many audiences are less content than Conan. While the character from Robert Sherwood’s comics is there, and this tends to be a prequel to the Schwarzenegger epics, it is all rather the same and the same and the same, confrontations, battles, slayings. And it is often literally dark (more so when you are wearing the dark 3D glasses).
One of the difficulties is that while Jason Momoa looks the part, he does not really stand out, does not have the charismatic presence of, say, Dwayne Johnson, who could have been a more vigorous and even a twinkle-in-the-eye Conan.
Stephen Lang does villains well and he is a loathsome character here, with Rose McGowan? as his smouldering witch daughter. Ron Perlman appears early as Conan’s father who is killed giving his son the motivation for revenge.
Not very well written. Not very well directed. Not very good at all.
1. The popularity of the original film? Fidelity to Robert Sherwood’s comics? The comparison with this remake? Prequel?
2. The production values, the barbarian settings, the civilised settings – the dark photography, land, desert, sea, forests? The buildings, the caves? Effective for this kind of epic? The 3D effects?
3. The popularity of the character, the comics? The hero?
4. Jason Momoa as Conan? Comparisons with Arnold Schwarzenegger? His appearance, acting style? Lack of charismatic presence? Sufficient for this kind of film? His character, as a young boy, the test with the egg from his father, the race, his encountering the warriors and slaying them, bringing their heads back? The advance of the enemy king, Khalar Zym? The capture of his father? His being humiliated before his son? The pouring of the metal? The son trying to hold his father in safety? Unable to? The motivation to follow Khalar Zym? Revenge? Conan saying that he lived, loved, slew and that that was sufficient? As illustrated in the film?
5. Khalar Zym, the bandit, attacking Conan and his people? Becoming king? His wanting the final part of the mask? Wanting power? The death of his wife – burnt as a witch? His daughter, her being a witch, her fingers and claws? Her capacity for tasting blood? His confronting Conan? The battles, his getting the mask, the power? In the cave, the death of his daughter? His fighting Conan, with Tamara, Conan trying to hold her in safety? His cutting away the bridge and Khalar Zym’s death?
6. Khalar Zym’s daughter? Her appearance, sinister, as a child taunting Conan? Helping her father? The search for the pure blood of the magicians? The death of the failing candidates? Her pursuit of Tamara, their fight? Her death?
7. Conan and his allies, the various members of different tribes? With Artus? With the thief Ela- Shan? The battles?
8. The emphasis on battles, slayings? The close-up brutality?
9. The build-up to the climax? Getting into the city, Ela- Shan and his help? The cave?
10. The background of the mask, the prologue and the explanations of the magicians, the powers, the gods? The loss of the part of the mask? The search for its recovery? The person with the pure blood?
11. Tamara, in the temple, the monastery? The other nuns? Her escaping? Being singled out, the daughter pursuing her? Her being captured? The rescue? The relationship with Conan – a future?
12. The popular ingredients for this kind of epic? The failure of the film to communicate them well?
