12th Jan2015

Review Round-Up: ‘To Go Viking’ & ‘Fifty Shades: Real Women Confess’

by Nicky Johnson

Safe-Comp-Dec-2014

To Go Viking

To Go Viking follows the Texas arm of the Jomsborg Elag (clan) as the train and prepare for fighting in Europe, specifically 17th International Slavs and Vikings Festival at Wolin, Poland. We learn how much some members have sacrificed, for example to choosing to eschew material objects in exchange to spend money on weaponry and training. We also see how the Jomsborg Elag come together in Poland, ready to face off the other clans.

This was interesting for about half hour but after that it gets pretty repetitive. The fights get more brutal towards the end when the Russians and Slavs get involved but otherwise nothing new happens throughout, just different settings and different people fighting. It keeps you watching just out of hope that it gets more interesting, maybe somebody gets really hurt or something, but nope.

If you’re interested in Viking re-enactments and you already know a bit about the subject then this may be for you, but really, you’ll probably want to avoid this and watch something more interesting, like Time Team.

** 2/5

Fifty Shades: Real Women Confess

Yet another thing to jump on the Fifty Shades of Grey bandwagon, this documentary tells the stories of people who take part in the BDSM scene, from a dominatrix to submissives, spanking to exploring blood play. We also look at the relationship of two couples who live the lifestyle of a dominant/submissive relationship almost all of the time and explore some of their rules.

This reeked of TV documentary from start to finish. Whether it’s the intro, the ‘My name is X and this is the Fifty Shades’ outro, or the intercut spanking and sexy scenes shot in black and white between interviews. It’s not always a bad thing, and a lot can be said about some TV documentaries, but this is the kind you know belongs on Channel 5.

The BDSM scene and sex in general can be an interesting topic if portrayed correctly. This just felt kind of tacky, and not in a good way. I’m not really sure if this is genuinely trying to expose the scene or if it’s riding the coattails of the world’s most popular Twilight fanfiction and going for shock value, but either way it’s not really worth watching. If you want to learn more about the scene, google it, but for God’s sake don’t watch this. This literally made the idea of ‘blood play’ seem boring.

* 1/5

______

To Go Viking and Fifty Shades: Real Women Confess are both available on DVD now from Safecracker Pictures.

Off

Comments are closed.