Arn: The Knight Templar (2007)

Director: Peter Flinth
Writers: Jan Guillou (novels), Hans Gunnarsson (screenplay)

Arn, the son of a high-ranking Swedish nobleman is educated in a monastery and sent to the Holy Land as a knight templar to do penance for a forbidden love.

I've had this movie for quite a while and hadn't watched it.  Arn is a swedish movie, and I'm a lazy movie watcher.  I generally don't like to read my movies.  I know, I know shame on me.  So, I packed this one away for future viewing when I felt up to it.  Boy, do I wish I hadn't done that.  The majority of this movie is in english.  Some is in swedish, some in arabic, but mostly in english so there wasn't that much reading to do.  The different languages adds to the realism of the film and this movie is so fucking good you don't even notice them because you're so into the film.  So there you have it.  I fucking loved this movie and wish I had watched it earlier.

Arn is a very Braveheart like film.  While not historically accurate, it gives the Braveheart vibe.  The film is very well made and very well acted.  Arn looks great, flows good and the action pieces are very well done.

The acting is top notch.  Joakim Nätterqvist has great presence and does a wonderful job as the main hero.  I have no complaints of any of the actors in this film.

The action scenes are wonderfully done and spaced well through the film.  There are a few slow parts, but are instrumental to the story overall.  There is a good amount of bloody action here.  There is one really dark peek of a nipple, but thats it.  I wouldn't call this film family friendly because of the amount of violence in it, but it's not bad.  I wouldn't have a problem showing this to my 13 year old son.

It seems odd that I always have more to say about a movie that is bad than I do with an excellent movie like this, but there isn't much to say.  This is an excellent film and highly recommended.

Verdict: Highly recommended

The Cast

Joakim Nätterqvist ... Arn Magnusson

Sofia Helin ... Cecilia Algotsdotter

Stellan Skarsgård ... Birger Brosa

Milind Soman ... Saladin

Nicholas Boulton ... Gerard De Ridefort

Alex Wyndham ... Armand De Gascogne

Bibi Andersson ... Moder Rikissa

Fanny Risberg ... Cecilia Blanka

Frank Sieckel ... Sigfried De Turenne

Lina Englund ... Katarina Algotsdotter

Michael Nyqvist ... Magnus Folkesson

Morgan Alling ... Eskil Magnusson

Simon Callow ... Fader Henry

Steven Waddington ... Grandmaster Torroja

Thomas W. Gabrielsson ... Emund Ulvbane

Vincent Perez ... Broder Guilbert