'Pathfinder' swings and misses everything

Originality has sorely been lacking in Hollywood these days, with the constant influx of remakes and sequels filling theaters. So when a film with an original idea comes out, it's a breath of fresh air. But "Pathfinder", for all of its originality, turns out to be a breath of smog that will leave viewers coughing with disgust.

The plot of "Pathfinder" is something unlike anything seen before on screen. It follows Ghost (Karl Urban), a Viking boy left behind on Native American lands during one of their raids.

The Native Americans take the boy in, and 15 years later when the Vikings return, he must fight to protect his new friends and family.

This plot is incredibly original and might be what entices people to go see it, however, the writers and director Marcus Nispel ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake) don't go any further with this at all. The film is totally devoid of any story and is just a simple battle between Vikings and Native Americans.

The film opens with young Ghost being discovered and brought into the Native American camp. The elders hold a meeting and eventually decide to keep him around.

This boy is a part of a group of people who had just slaughtered fellow Native Americans, so it makes little sense that the elders would accept him so easily. The writers could have had scenes of Ghost trying to be accepted and struggling for equality, which would have proved compelling, but instead the potential is wasted.

Ghost himself could have proved to be an interesting character, but that is thrown by the wayside as well. In fact, there is no characterization at all in this film. Audience members will not care about any person at all during the entire film's duration.

There are shots of Native Americans being decimated by the Vikings to the cue of melancholy music, but the effect is lost since there is no reason to care about these people. The film tries to elicit sympathy but it fails miserably.

Overall, the characters in this film are incredibly stupid and make the most unintelligent decisions.

Throughout the film, the Vikings make it clear that they want Ghost dead for his actions. However, when they finally do catch Ghost, they keep him alive in order to lead them to another Native American camp, totally going against what they said earlier.

Another part is when Ghost builds a trap in the middle of a forest that a tribe of Native Americans accidentally falls into. Instead of charging and killing Ghost, the army of Vikings decides to actually jump into the trap and finish off the already dying Native Americans. It's a scene that may actually cause laughter among some viewers.

The Vikings themselves are hulking brutes that seem to have nothing better to do than murder people. It really makes no sense that they would cross the Atlantic Ocean just for the sake of going around and killing.

There are very few positives to be found in this film. Nispel gives the film a really gritty atmosphere by filtering it in very dirty browns and blues. This gives the film a nice style that is in tune with the events onscreen.

The action scenes are extremely cliché in nature, with plenty of decapitations and arrows through the eyes.

Nispel doesn't try anything new and uses very frantic and quick camera movements so viewers would have a hard time trying to figure out what's going on during these segments. This cinematography tries to be stylistic, but it leaves one confused more than anything else.

"Pathfinder" tries to be different, which is helped by its original concept, but the film itself is a disaster. Confusing camerawork, characters devoid of anything emotional and even a totally random love story all combine to make this film a must-miss.

Jared Waine is a sophomore majoring in film.