There's no mistaking it, the Norse Eddas are composed of some brilliant stories. If your only exposure to the vibrant world of Norse mythology has been the highly entertaining yet very inaccurate MCU films, the original stories should definitely be on your reading list. Neil Gaiman's retelling is highly recommended. I was hoping that this film would be a fairly faithful retelling of the myths...I was wrong. To be fair, it was OK but only up to a point. I'm not familiar with the Danish comic book retelling that was the main source for this adaptation, but I am not inspired to read it having watched this. Too much emphasis is placed on two kids who barely get a mention in the original myths and there has been the totally pointless inclusion of a cutesy giant character who doesn't even provide the comic relief he was probably intended to bring (think Viking era Jar Jar Binks). On the plus side, the film looks good. Some people are stressing about the appearance of the Aesir in the film. In Norse mythology the deities were shape shifters so I'm not too bothered about casting choices (no, not all the Norse gods were fair skinned blonds as one reviewer on here mentioned; Thor in the Eddas was a redhead and Loki even took on the form of a female horse in one tale). Whereas Norse mythology presents gods and goddesses who have wonderfully human traits that make them rounded personalities, there is very little character development of what are, in this version, clueless, bickering two-dimensional tyrants. I have studied Norse culture and myth for over 30 years. I didn't hate this film, but found myself picking it to pieces as I watched it. I'm hoping that one day there will be an accurate adaptation of the Eddas. They are all such great stories, they don't need embellishment for a modern audience. These are stories that have endured for hundreds of years.
As I say, the production design was decent and reflected the Norse view of their mythology before the later Christian influences crept in, but if you want to learn more about Norse mythology, for the time being at least, turn off the TV and read a book or listen to the BBC radio dramatisation of Neil Gaiman's retelling.
Review of Valhalla: The Legend of Thor
