Director: Erik Skjoldbjaerg
Writer: Erik Skjoldbjaerg, Nikolaj Frobenius, Hans Gunnarsson, Cathinka Nicolaysen, Kathrine Valen Zeiner (Screenplay)
Starring: Aksel Hennie, Wes Bentley, Stephen Lang, Stephanie Sigman, Jonathan LaPaglia, Ane Dahl Torp
Plot: A thriller set at the beginning of the 1980’s Norwegian Oil Boom and cantered on a diver whose obsession with reaching the bottom of the Norwegian Sea leads to tragedy.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Tense Conspiracy Thriller
Story: Pioneer starts by showing the Norwegian working with the Americans to simulate the achievement of diving 500 metres under water with Petter (Hennie), Knut (Eriksen) Jorgen (Jorgensen) and American Mike (Bentley) are the subjects which achieves the world record.
The next challenge is to take this into the field to help finish constructing under water gas pipes of the coast of Norway. The captain of the ship John Ferris (Lang) sends the Norwegian team in first. When an accident happens on their mission Knut ends up dying and Petter tries to get to the bottom of what really happened. Petter believes the Americans have more information and finds himself wondering just who to trust in his quest for truth.
Pioneer brings us a thriller that is wrapped up in a conspiracy follow the events between two nations who are trying to work together to complete an oil pipeline underwater. We follow one man who wants to know what happened and who was really responsible for his brother’s death. This does work well but sadly we don’t see enough from what finally did happen with most of this being sold as paranoia.
Actor Review
Aksel Hennie: Petter is the Norwegian diver who loses his brother on one of the mission, he wants to know what really happened and who is to blame, this leads him into a maze of cover ups that put his very life at risk. Aksel is great in this role out shinning the rest of the cast in the leading role.
Wes Bentley: Mike is the arrogant American who believes he is better than the Norwegians, he sees himself more physically fit to do the dive and does whatever it takes to be the first choice for any dives. Wes is an actor I will try to always praise but he doesn’t seem to give one of his better performance but must be praised for stepping into a foreign language film.
Stephen Lang: John Ferris is the lead in the experiment from the American side of the experiments. He knows there is evidence that could cause harm on his side of the situation thanks to how Petter’s brother dies. Stephen is good in this villainous role even if we only see him a couple of times in the film.
Stephanie Sigman: Maria is the wife of Petter’s brother that is against him continuing diving and blames Petter for his death to start with until he finds out the truth hasn’t fully been uncovered. Stephanie doesn’t get enough screen time to make the impact her character needs too.
Support Cast: Pioneer has a supporting cast that are mostly involved with covering up the truth or offering news about the truth.
Director Review: Erik Skjoldbjaerg – Erik gives us a nice thriller that’s lead does carry the film.
Thriller: Pioneer keeps us wondering as to what actually happened.
Settings: Pioneer creates the settings to match the time period with the underwater scenes all coming off smoothly.
Special Effects: Pioneer uses good effects when it comes to creating the underwater scenes making them feel as intense as they need to be.
Suggestion: Pioneer is one to try, it is an interesting story but difficult to keep on top off (Try It)
Best Part: Final shot of the oil rig being shipped out.
Worst Part: Norwegian and English gets confusing to onto off throughout.
Believability: Based on the real events.
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes
Tagline: When your ultimate adventure becomes your ultimate nightmare
Trivia: The accident, where Aksel Hennie rolls his Jeep isn’t staged, but a real not planned rollover without a stunt man. Hennie was to drive off the road, and make a Sharp turn, but the Jeep wasn’t able to perform such a turn at that speed, without rolling over.
Overall: Thriller that lacks the punches it needs to fully pull the audience in.
Rating
