While on a voyage to what will one day be North America, a Viking boy is abandoned by his people for being weak. The boy is eventually found by a Native American tribe and raise him to be a warrior. However, fifteen years later, the marauding Vikings return and the boy, now called Ghost, must do battle with the vicious killers to defend to people he loves.

I saw several other reviews for this movie and people didn't seem to like this movie at all. I thought that some of them were really quite harsh. Pathfinder is by no means a perfect movie, but I didn't think it was as bad as some of the review made out. Pathfinder is a movie about Native Americans fighting Vikings, it's not high art. Part of the reason I am willing to forgive this movie so much is because Karl Urban is the star. He is the sort of actor that makes any movie worth a watch just because he is in it. Yes, even that Doom movie from a couple of years ago. Honestly, I don't think Karl Urban has ever given a bad performance. It helps that he spends most of the early part of this movie without a shirt on, so that's nice.

Clancy Brown was the main Viking, so at least we had a villain worth booing. Clancy Brown is another actor who is always good in whatever he is in, whether it was the Kurgan in Highlander, Lex Luthor in the DC Animated Universe, or even Mr. Krabs in SpongeBob SquarePants. Only now do I realise that the last two movie I have reviewed starred actors who had appeared in the Highlander movies. Coincidence, or pro-Highlander propaganda? I'll let you decide.

The version of the movie that I watched for this review was the Extended Edition, which I guess means the movie had added gory bits. Fans of blood and guts won't be disappointed with this movie as there are plenty of gooey bits to enjoy whether it is people having their heads lopped off or a particularly nasty scene where somebody has a gaping eye wound sewn up.

That being said, there are some things I didn't like about the movie. The whole thing looks so drab that it was like somebody sucked all the colour out of it. The camerawork was so dark and the editing was so hyperactive that sometimes it was impossible to see what was going on.

So, to summarise, by no means perfect, but some familiar faces and impressive gore more than make up for any shortcomings.

My rating: 3 stars