Somewheeere....Beyond The Sea.....Is The Seafaring Movie Kon-Tiki!!

Directing duo Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg have been tasked with this weekend's new blockbuster Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. At this point, the concept of lesser-known directors previously in charge of projects that ranged from small-scale to micro-budget projects endeavors being tasked with American blockbusters is far from a novel concept. What's interesting is that Rønning and Sandberg have actually done multiple movies (three in fact) prior to being tasked with something as massive as a Pirates Of The Caribbean movie, a sharp contrast to the likes of Collin Trevorrow or Jordan Vogt-Roberts who each did one movie before going off into blockbuster territory.

Not only have the duo had a notable amount of experience helming movies in the past, their most recent pre-Pirates motion picture even had them telling a tale primarily set out at sea. That tale itself is concerned with the real-life Kon-Tiki expedition that occurred in 1947. This journey was championed by Thor Heyerdahl (Pal Sverre Hagen), who was looking to prove that the ancestors of natives of the Polynesian islands hailed from South America and traveled to the land their descendants call home by way of traveling on rafts across the ocean, a sharp contrast to the accepted geographical origins of Polynesian natives in this era.

Heyerdahl looks to prove his theory himself by traveling with a crew across the ocean on the same course and using only the same materials ancient Polynesians used when traveling across the sea to their potential new home. It's a daring mission that sounds bonkers to most who encounter it, but Thor Heyerdahl does manage to assemble a motley crew for the journey, including refrigerator salesman Herman (Anders Baasmo Christiansen), which will consist of frightful shark-filled peril, confusion over how to navigate these seas and storms in their restrained craft and potential glory if they make their destination in one piece.

When Kon-Tiki starts out, it has a paint-by-numbers feel to it that gives a more lethargic pace. The various crew members Thor assembles that aren't Herman manage to blend together in these sequences and don't stand out as distinct individuals while Thor's troubles at home that consist of his concerned wife worried about him embarking on such a perilous trip goes nowhere (this is yet another biopic movie centered around a dude who changed the world and had a wife who did nothing but deliver concerns and then approval in the jubilant climax) which all manages to give the film a weaker start that had me worried for the rest of the movie.

Luckily, once everyone sets off for the high seas, things improve tremendously. Rønning and Sandberg seem to be having a lot of fun examining this small group of characters trying to survive by their wits with limited supplies and no back-up for miles while they travel across the water. Their eye for well-made shots and sense of showmanship in the more intense sequences (especially in a scene where a blood-soaked Herman falls into shark-infested waters). These two seem to know just how to pace out these scenes so the audience will be at the edge of their seat during this voyage while also smartly keeping the bickering between the crew to a minimum since there's already enough tension in their mission without adding in forced conflict into the mix.

Kon-Tiki looks absolutely beautiful too and I like the subtle way the movie is able to get various moods out of just shots of the ocean water. In one scene, the sparkling blues of the water pop off the screen, making it look like an aquatic paradise, while other times certain camera angles and types of shots are employed that give the terrain that surrounds the crew from all sides carries a more ominous air without undercutting the prior visual tranquility. Excellent visual stuff in here, super curious to see if these two directors bring any of that visual flourish to Jack Sparrow's newest movie. For now though, Kon-Tiki is a pretty good movie that takes awhile to get going but once it does, it's got some truly well-done directing and memorably intense sequences to its name.