This is technically not a re-make of the Arnie Classic of the same name, rather a re-hash, and pretty poor one at that, which leads me to question why they try and destroy a classic and put a mediocre alternative in its place.
Story wise, it does differ slightly from the 1982 film, but it's essentially the same in that Conan witnesses his father being killed and he travels across the continent of Hyboria on a quest to avenge the murder and the slaughter of his village.
Was it good?
Well as you can probably guess from my initial reaction the answer is no! I think the problem with the re-hash of Conan is that while the main star (Jason Momoa) has more acting ability than Arnie did he doesn’t come across as realistic in his role and he also lacks the screen presence that was evident in the 1982 film.
In some ways the best parts were at the start of the re-hash when Ron Perlman was around as Conan’s father. However these earlier phases were soon hurried along to rush people into the main plot, which in some ways tries too hard to be different from the previous film and falls flat on its face as a result.
There’s plenty of gore to be had but the more the film continues the worse the acting gets and you’re inundated with poor action sequences that lack the modern day cinematic polish.
If you want to see Conan in film format just rent the original or for those who are curious about the re-hash you could rent it if you require a no-brainer film, just don’t expect to be fully entertained for long.
