Pathfinder

In pre-Columbian America, the lone survivor of a band of Viking raiders is an orphan boy adopted by a native tribe. Fifteen years later, he has grown into a man (Karl Urban), and he swings into action when the Vikings return to wipe out his adopted people. Based on a 1987 Norwegian film, Laeta Kalogridis’ script keeps dialogue to a minimum, mainly a smattering of grunts interspersed with New Age buzzwords, expressed in a Native American vocabulary that includes words like “yeah” and “OK.” Instead, the movie goes straight for the action, incessant and sadistic. Director Marcus Nispel keeps the heads rolling but doesn’t bother to match the geography of one scene with the next—or even, for that matter, to match successive shots. Characterization? Forget it. It’s all a mess, but the scenery is nice.