Zack Snyder's Twilight of the Gods Review – IGN

Zack Snyder's Twilight of the Gods is now streaming on Netflix.

Zack Snyder's partnership with Netflix has been a story of diminishing returns, with projects like Army of the Dead and Rebel Moon films (and their shamelessly marketed director's cuts) promising more than they could deliver. While the animated series Twilight of the Gods signposts itself as one of the Justice League director's loudest blood-and-sex-filled creative ventures, it manages to come out the other end as a surprisingly engrossing epic despite its many tedious elements.

At first blush, Twilight of the Gods is Kill Bill in Viking garb. As with most Snyder's work, the visuals are nothing short of stunning, as the Germanic paintings come to life through the collaborative efforts of French studio Gillum Animation and Snyder's production company, The Stone Quarry. Its first two episodes see the warrior Leif and Sigrid dismissed by the thunder god Thor on their wedding night as he pursues the trickster god Loki. After surviving Thor's terrifying attack, the tragic pair embark on a journey of revenge, joining a group of equally broken warriors with nothing left to lose. The story that unfolds is treated to ultra-violence, sex, slow-motion action sequences and juvenile humor – the end of which is so jarring that it undermines almost all other dialogue.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Twilight of the Gods is the tumultuous relationship between Sigrid and Leif. Sigrid the “Blood Bride” willingly throws caution to the wind, with the same disregard for human consequences that she scorns the gods. Meanwhile, Leif grapples with his past gruesome transgressions in his new life as a paragon of justice. This often confuses the pair, and the party names Leaf a five-letter word for coward because of her newfound virtue.

As he showed with 300, Snyder is at his best when coloring inside the lines of a pre-established pantheon with tons of wiggle room for creative freedom. Sigrid suits the filmmaker's power fantasy storytelling flavor, without offending history buffs. Although not much is known about the historical figure she is based on, what is known is that she was “arrogant” and the most powerful Viking queen of all time; One historical account states that she burned her suitors in a house to drive away the others. While Twilight of the Gods Sigrid isn't as hostile, she still provides enough of a glimpse of her real-life counterpart's mean streak. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of a late-season backstory dump, the rest of the party struggle to establish themselves beyond their vague character archetypes. This resulted in Snyder and company basing much of their writing and plot on existing Norse mythology.

Unlike Soccer Punch, Watchmen and the twilight years of the DC cinematic universe, Twilight of the Gods feels right at home with Snyder's uneven exercise of style over substance. You have awkward sex scenes that overstay their welcome, unnecessary slow-motion action sequences and a cavalcade of graphic one-liners with a punchline about genitalia. All of this seems fitting, given that the Vikings — and the stories the Norse gods told — were to strangers and relatives alike.

To help convey this penchant for depravity, Twilight of the Gods weaves a theme that does not correspond to reality. (“Poetry lies about benevolent gods,” etc.). While this leads to a Thor who is cruel to the point of parody, it provides an anchor in the form of Patterson Joseph's versatile portrayal of Loki. The character begins as an antagonist to both Sigrid and Thor, instigating their battle to the death from the shadows to fulfill his own mysterious ends—but eventually it's revealed that Loki is just as much a victim as Sigrid. The only difference is that he is expected to be present as an agent of chaos instead of being the tragic hero of his own story.