CONAN THE BARBARIAN 3D
She said ...
RATING: ***
LET’S be honest: that rough-around- the-edges allure of movie heroes such as Kevin Costner (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), Brad Pitt (Troy) and Russell Crowe (Gladiator) has left females with romanticised views of them.
Along comes a movie like Conan the Barbarian 3D and the boorish charm of Conan (Hawaiian new-comer Jason Momoa) throws a spanner on their whole take of such warriors. His primitive manne-risms might offend the sensibilities of modern women, but that per-fectly sculptured body, chiselled face and those valiant fighting skills will distract no end.
Of course, drooling over Momoa is the only reason why females will willingly agree to watch this gore- fest.
The mythological story is propelled by Conan, a Cimmerian’s hunger to avenge the murder of his father and the destruction of his village. In doing so, he also keeps Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang) from resurrecting his dead wife and gaining God status.
His quest sees him cross paths with Tamara (Rachel Nichols), a monk from the Acheronian necromancer’s bloodline, and also a vital person in the successful execution of Khalar’s ritual.
Aside from the saturation of brutal battle scenes, the relationship with Conan and Tamara is depicted in a contrasting gentle light. Even their epic love scene in the movie is beautifully shot with soft lighting.
Although the 3D factor is also a big drawcard to the movie, don’t go looking for blood splashes and characters being hurled at you. Barring a scene or two, it is basically an absent element in the movie.
Conan the Barbarian invites the audience into a world where sorcery and power struggles result in battles that can best be described as gruesome, with heads being hacked off along with other body parts. And it is these battles that give birth to heroes and villains.
This isn’t a movie for the squea-mish. And if you can stomach that, perving over Conan, who has all the chivalry of a beast, might come more easily than you imagined.
A new hero is born… and he is no metrosexual. But ruggedly handsome, he most certainly is.
This movie is a guy’s action utopia and a girl’s epic fantasy!