Outlander Review

First things first, Outlander is not going to be troubling the Academy Awards next year. It is, in essence, a film about a bunch of Vikings who are aided by a spaceman in defeating an alien. True story - honest.

So to cut to the chase, the story centres on Kainan, a warrior from another time and another place, whose spacecraft crashlands in Norway in the 8th Century. But, unbeknownst to Kainan, a terrifying monster that is some kind of cross between a predator and an alien, and so packed with lighting, it could power the next U2 tour, has stowed aboard.

After climbing out of the fjord and discovering that his companion is dead, Kainan heads off to find the nearest inhabitants - a cluster of Viking villages. Unfortunately the monster, or Moorwen to give it its proper title, has had the same idea and troops off to get a flavour for local life - literally.

The locals manage to find Kainan in the forest, disarm him immediately - making you question his warrior capabilities - and drag him back to their village. Aggressive, course and distrusting, the Viking contingent also blame Kainan for the recent massacres in the surrounding villages, so he is imprisoned and looks likely to get the chop. But then Fate intervenes and the king's daughter develops a connection with him, before he punches her (who said they didn't sell wifebeater lager in those days?) and as time rolls on, Kainan becomes an integral part of the Vikings' attempts to stop the Moorwen.

With a love interest, medieval-style banquets, masses of mutilation and a ton of CGI, Outlander ticks all the right boxes for those who have ADD, rushing from one fight sequence to the next. Jim Caviezel, who so impressed in The Passion Of The Christ, plays the lead role like a learner driver, without ever really needing to find second gear, and Sophia Myles (Hallam Foe) provides the Amazonian (in terms of pursuits rather than location) love interest. There are also cameo parts for John Hurt and Ron Perlman as leaders of opposing Viking factions, as well as a reasonable turn from Capn Jack Sparrow lookalike Jack Huston (Factory Girl, Shrooms).

Unoriginal and requiring brain hibernation, Outlander is still a right romp with a final scene reminiscent of The Mummy 3 or The Descent. Forgettable but fun nonetheless.