Director: Andre Ovredal
Writer: Geoff Bussetil, Norman Lesperance, Andre Ovredal (Screenplay)
Starring: Nat Wolff, Priyanka Bose, Iben Akerlie, Arthur Hakalahti, Ania Nova, Oddrunn Valestrand
Plot: Fantasy adventure origin story about a young man discovering he has God-like powers based on ancient Norwegian mythology.
Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Electrifying
Story: Mortal starts when lone traveler Eric (Wolff) is confronted by a group of locals in Norway, with the incident resulting in the death of one of those boys, with no clear explanation on how it happened, the police turn to psychologist Christine (Akerlie) who is dealing with her own terrible news, as she looks to try and get answers from Eric.
When Eric accidentally releases his uncontrollable powers, he sees his transport helicopter crash, while he saves Hathaway (Bose) the lead agent, he escapes returning to Christine for help, as the two go in search of answers.
Thoughts on Mortal
Characters – Eric has been living off the grid for years after a tragedy in his family home, when a group of strangers sees him wondering alone, he warns them about his powers, which show how uncontrollable he actually is, he finds himself being hunted down, while he does start to learn about controlling his powers and return to the world he once left behind. Christine is a psychologist that has been called to ask to help get through to Eric, she has her own tragic news and sees this as a chance to help one more person with her kind nature. She helps Eric try and allude the authorities, while working to try and learn his story. Hathaway is the lead agent trying to help Eric and use his powers for their own good, she leads the team tracking him down, needing to make the difficult decisions.
Performances – Nat Wolff in the leading role does a strong job bringing to life a reclusive character trying to decide the right or wrong thing from his life. Iben Akerlie is the star here with her performance bring to life her character that is always trying to do the right thing. Priyanka Bose does well with her role, only we could have seen a lot more from the character.
Story – The story here follows a once lost lone survivor of a fire that reappears around a mysterious death going in search for answers to why he has gained these dangerous powerful abilities. The story does dive into Norse mythology with trying to unlock a fresh new approach to how the powers are created and used. This does create the balance of good and evil that could come from the powers. We do get to have a good investigation into the mystery about what happened to Eric’s family, as we learn small parts along the way, but we do seem to waste the full investigation into Hathaway’s reasoning behind why is around and what she wants from Eric.
Action – The action in the film is great with most sequences in the film being around the electric abilities Eric seems to have, with the bridge sequence being the highlight of everything.
Settings – The film uses the Norwegian countryside to show the beauty of the landscape and how easily Eric could disappear from the world for years.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are strong with the lightening strikes being battled with by Eric, showing the destruction they could bring when they hit.
Scene of the Movie – The bridge sequence.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Hathaway seems like she should be a more important character than we see.
Final Thoughts – This is an entertaining fantasy movie that does give us the same vibes as Chronicle, X-Men and Brightburn, showing us what could happen with powers in an everyday life.
Overall: Enjoyable.
Signature Entertainment presents Mortal on Digital HD August 3rd and DVD August 24th
