Valhalla

This is a Danish classic, that have touched all children and the little child within of the "grown-ups".

Watch it and fall in love with it.

Truly wonderful.

"Valhalla" has become a bit of a Danish classic, for years rating as a key product of Danish children's fiction. Since it was based on a popular Danish comic album series and helped establish a growing cartoon industry in Denmark, it has also achieved some popularity with young film aficionados, resulting for instance in the recent petition campaign for the DVD release of the film.

Having re-watched the film on the video release recently, I have almost exclusively positive remarks for the film. In all parts of the production this is solid work. There is, perhaps, more cuteness than true drama, and the film is left too short to be epic, but these are descriptions rather than criticisms.

Three things struck me as particularly note-worthy about the production: First, the story does well to transport the imagination of the beholder into the world of the old mythology. To that end, I took special note of the opening prologue scene in which a narrator introduces us to the land of the gods and the story that is to begin; it is almost perfectly styled. Second, as a very positive quality to the story in general, the gods of the story are portrayed funnily and full of flaws, bad tempers, etc. Third, the music of the entire film is excellent, balancing the dramatic and light styles elegantly to fit the moods of the film.

I don't know how many times I've sat through this. I've probably read all the original written efforts, as well. I'm hardly the loudest or most likely candidate when it comes to bragging about Denmark, but this is an aspect in which I feel pride. I will not be commenting on the English dub, nor do I intend to hear it, and I don't care for the fact that this(*our* cultural heritage) was first done to fit that, then synchronized to our tongue. This is based partially on the comic book series, the artist/writer of it helming it(and I think he did a darn good job), and is magnificent both as an introduction to reading them, if one so desires(I'd say they may very well enjoy them thoroughly), and as a retelling of the subject matter. This takes portions of a couple of these novels, and they fit together well. It takes us through Asgaard and Udgaard, shows us several of the creatures and people residing in them, and includes an adventure or two. The plot is well-done and develops nicely... it's never actually boring. The pacing is pretty much spot-on, with mood and atmosphere in a concise movie. The art and animation are great. The detail in the entire production is impressive. The tone is an interesting case... this could be viewed by children, and definitely does cater to them some, but it isn't insulting to other age-groups, and at times, it's fairly dark(and it could be argued that there are hints of adult stuff). The voices, as provided by us Danes, are marvelous, as is quite a bit of the acting. Kaysø and Bank-Mikkelsen with their deep, booming speech are among the perfect casting. Kristensen, though you might not immediately choose him for what who he performs, is, as well. Eje adds a lot of personality through mere grunts and such. Ryskjær and Rolffes deserve mention as well, as Hugin and Munin, the ravens. The characters are reasonably fleshed out, and their traits are instantly recognizable from the source material. The score is excellent, with themes for the various groups, and more often than not, famous pieces, used well. The audience had better at the very least tolerate Quark, because he's there a lot. For my money, the "whisle scene" is rather high up on the list of the most entertaining of that type of thing. The humor varies, and there is silly, cartoon-y, but also clever, laughs herein. There are morals in this, as well, and they aren't heavy-handed. The DVD of this features three trailers, a work-reel and commentary tracks with each director, and they are informative and well worth listening through. I, myself, would jump at the opportunity to watch well-done films about the Norse myths. That doesn't mean this is anything less than masterful. I recommend this to anyone into the stories. 8/10

I can't understand how one could be praising such a typical animation as this one.

Music and effects are basic stuff for most parts and they don't deserve any kind of special remark. There is absolutely no positively unconventional or surprising element in the score. It might as well have been ripped from Disney or some forgotten television animation series. At the end of the movie the music shifts into a horrible pop rock song musical which made my stomach turn.

Characters are conventional animation characters portrayed without any authentic personality. There is absolutely no respect in "Thor" who is supposed to be a though guy, so it doesn't matter so much that he is also a loser who can't do anything right. His sidekick "Loki" has to act as Thor's brains even though he isn't too bright himself. So it is a good break that this couple gets bunch of kids to help them out in their difficult quest of beating up a group of giants in a game of intelligence. In the meanwhile these kids go look "Odin" playing chess and also a big part of the movie is dedicated for these kids playing in a tree house.

Real family values are taught by only briefly exposing Thor's wife while she takes care of Thor's children and cooks stew (god's wife thus gives a good example to mortal children about the role of women in the house). I'm also worried about sexual values in this movie: there are no beautiful ladies or knights in this fairytale, only kids, muscle men and badly animated troll giants. So if one likes to see the great gods of Valhalla perverted into a bunch of wimps playing around with mortal (and immortal) children this is the movie to see.

I gave this 2/10 because at the end of the movie there is a two second shot of a chicken waving it's rear sphincter (I'm not kidding) at the camera. I considered this to be a relatively original idea of making the audience feel like they have been screwed.

It's great to see a feature length animated movie that doesn't completely succumb to the Disney way of doing things. Plus, it has a killer score.