Conan The Barbarian(2011)

In 1981, Conan The Barbarian starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was unleashed on the world. It was one hell of a movie, telling the story of one man who would eventually become king by his own hand. It was and still is a fantastic film, which launched Arnold Schwarzenegger's film career. A sequel, The Destroyer followed in 1984, but was a critical failure, as it failed to capture the essence of Conan. Still, it was fun to see Arnie swinging a sword. A third film was in the works, but didn't get made because Arnold was committed to Predator.

Now in 2011, A new Conan movie has been unleashed. Starring Jason Momoa as Conan, this new film tells the story of a boy who was born in the heat of battle, raised by his father, Corin(Ron Perlman), only to see his father and people slaughtered by the ruthless warlord, Khalar Zym(Stephen Lang). Khalar Zym sought the final piece to an ancient mask that would give him unlimited power to rule the world. Years later, Conan travels the ancient world of Hyboria, freeing slaves, and causing trouble. Eventually he runs into a woman, Tamara(Rachel Nichols) who escaped the wrath of Zym, and his daughter, Marique(Rose McGowan). Turns out, she is a descendant of a "pureblood" people, and her blood is needed to activate the mask. Conan accompanies her, if only to avenge his people.

First things first, the only relation this film has to the original, is the name of the movie, and the character. Other than that, it's a completely different film with it's own story. It's more of a reboot than a remake. Two: The casting of Jason Momoa as Conan: It really wasn't a bad idea, as Momoa has the physicality and the body to make it work. As for the acting? He's not bad, but all he's really required to do in this film, is to look like a bad-ass and swing a sword, and he does that extremely well. Almost even more than Arnold Schwarzenegger. But again, it's still comparing apples to oranges, as Momoa's Conan is very different than Arnold's version. In the original film, and its sequel, Conan came off as a bit of a buffoon. Momoa's Conan really isn't a buffoon, he's actually fairly intelligent as Conan should be. In the books, Conan spoke several languages and was a brilliant military tactician, and that still isn't shown in this film, but he's not the gullible bonehead that was portrayed in Conan: The Destroyer.

I'm posting this on a Horror website, because there are many elements in this film, which would make it qualify. It's very bloody, particularly the beginning of the film, with young Conan bringing the heads of six savages back from the wilds. It's also a very dark film, because you're dealing with demons, human sacrifice, brutal torture, and basically, the end of the world. But it's still a fantasy film at heart, because it takes place in a fictional age which was supposed to have happened over 13,000 years ago. Getting back to the acting, Stephen Lang is fantastic as Zym, as he's very menacing and has a seriously bad attitude all around. Rose McGowan is virtually unrecognizable as Marique, who is as beautiful as she is psychotic. Rachel Nichols, on the other hand, is strictly eye candy, however. She's got a great body, though. The action was fast, hard hitting and very well choreographed. The way Momoa handles a sword, makes Schwarzenegger look like a school kid. Some of the special effects could've been handled better, though.

All in all, it's not as bad as I was expecting. In fact, I really liked it a lot. Does it hold a candle to the original film? Not even close. But it's sure as hell is better than The Destroyer in every which way. So, I don't think people should have to worry about the new Conan film overshadowing the original. Schwarzenegger's film is probably the best sword-and-sandal movie of the past thirty-two years. Jason Momoa isn't changing that. But he's not the horrible mis-cast that people seem to think he is. Truth be told, there really is no-one in this world that has Conan's physique, not even Arnie. But Momoa's big enough, and has the physicality to really make it stick. This is a solid fantasy/horror flick. 8.5/10.