Review- Conan The Barbarian (2011)

At the Theater -- Conan The Barbarian (2011) -- Although there are admittedly a slew of little flaws to pick at, this might just be the most unfairly trashed film of the year (especially with films like Drive Angry, Bad Teacher, Rubber and Sucker Punch being unleashed upon us this year). Jason Momoa makes a far, far better Conan than Schwarzennegger- the young man has presence, athleticism and charisma to boot. The film is a bloody "B"-Movie guilty pleasure that should somewhat please it's target audience.
The surprisingly spry Momoa seems to be legitimately having fun, which is far closer to Writer Robert E. Howard's character than Arnold's dumb, brooding, one-note hulk of gristle portrayed in the 1982 film. This Conan doesn't cry, either!

This most recent film could have desperately used the outstanding musical score by Basil Poledaris and the directorial flow/craft of John Milius present in the original- the music here is forgettable, there are a ton of tiny continuity issues and a few glaringly awkward editing gaffes. Some of it feels just plain rushed. Where the original was a bit too dialogue-heavy (Milius was notorious for his heavy on speeches and light on action screenplays), this film is wall-to-wall action with a few clunky one-liners and very little exposition. There's more of a budget here, featuring some very good cinematography, a few solid cgi creatures and some competently staged battle scenes.

Stephen Lang (Avatar) once again makes an adequate main villain while Rose McGowan is nearly unrecognizable, though effectively creepy, as his witch-daughter. Rachel Nichols is always nice to look at and is serviceable as a token love interest/damsel in distress.

Overall, this is an Okay action-adventure film that's leagues better than the Clash Of The Titans remake, Kull The Conqueror, Red Sonja or the goofily tame Scorpion King. I liked this Conan film a helluva lot more than The Eagle with the completely worthless Channing Tatum, though I liked this year's Ironclad quite a bit more.

As one of the more notable box-Office bombs of the last 10 years, more than likely this will be the last time we'll see Momoa, or anyone else for that matter, play Conan for a very long time- I just hope it doesn't take another thirty years for his return. I'm a big fan (quite literally) of the character and I find my inner geek a little heartbroken.

Conan The Barbarian (2011)-- 6.5 outta 10