“The Northman” (*1/2 out of four) was a lumbering historical action adventure about a young boy whose father (Ethan Hawke) is brutally murdered by his uncle (Claes Bang) who kidnaps the boy’s mother (Nicole Kidman); two decades later, he has grown into a warrior Viking (Alexander Skarsgard) who sets outs on a mission to avenge his father and rescue his mother and kill his uncle. Skarsgard sure packed on some muscles for this film but all that protein may have dulled his persona, judging from his one-note performance here (he barely changes expressions the entire film). Heavy-going all the way and not even the final showdown is particularly gripping or satisfying. Fans of director Robert Eggers’ other work (I wasn’t) may like this better.