STOCKHOLM BLOODBATH
Starring: Sophie Cookson, Alba August, Emily Beecham, Claes Bang, Jakob Oftebro, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Ulrich Thomsen, Matias Varela, Thomas Chaanhing, and Wilf Scolding
Director: Mikael Håfström
PRESTON
Director Mikael Håfström uses an aesthetic mash-up of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino in Stockholm Bloodbath, which is cool, and the historicity of the story is pure gold. I mean, the event is actually called The Stockholm Bloodbath. So, it's by what I can only imagine is a personal attack against me that Håfström bastardizes the hell out of this with a see-sawing dialogue of inappropriate levity and confusing seriousness. Its attempted stylized-mix of Braveheart and A Knight’s Tale results in a confusing and bipolar tone that leaves the viewer “absolutely wanting.” Extreme potential is the only thing that’s spilled upon the roads of Stockholm this time.
QUENTIN
Given its Guy Ritchie inspirations, brutal true-life story, and bloody Braveheart-esque battles, it’s wild just how flat and tame Stockholm Bloodbath is. Whether it’s the inconsistent tone or the competing stories filled with poorly developed characters, everything feels like it’s just going through the motions. It doesn’t help that the acting is fairly pedestrian (at best), with many of the performers coming across as Poor Man’s versions of better actors. That said, had either of the plotlines been given room to breathe, this may have made for a serviceable action epic. As constructed, though, it simply misses the mark.
