Kon-Tiki movie review & film summary (2013)

Despite the inherent dangers ("There will be no one to save us out there," Heyerdahl cautions), the human drama of "Kon-Tiki" is underdeveloped. Only one crew member makes an impression: Herman Watzinger (Anders Baasmo Christiansen), a former engineer turned refrigerator salesman, who yearns for adventure, but gets more than he bargained for and threatens to go all Queeg on his shipmates. 

The downtime the men must have experienced would have provided screenwriter Petter Skavlan ample opportunity for scenes in which the crew talked about their lives and allowed the audience to become more invested in them. Instead, they become familiar to us only as the Guy with the Radio and the Parrot, the Guy Who Plays the Guitar, or the Guy with the Camera.

But once "Kon-Tiki" gets out to sea, it delivers several thrilling set pieces that keep the film on a steady course. There is a powerful storm; a tense, blood-soaked shark attack; a close encounter with a whale; and, in the last 240 yards, a deadly reef to navigate. 

Through it all, the calm and charismatic Heyerdahl urges the men to "have faith." "I have faith," the navigator responds at one point when he discovers the craft is not on its desired course. "I also have a sextant."

"Kon-Tiki" is filmed in a more realistic style than the fanciful "Life of Pi," but it offers no less a sense of wonder, as evoked in scenes with flying fish, electric eels that light up the nocturnal waters, or simply the rapturously beautiful panoramic view of the tiny craft as a speck on the vast oceanscape.

As with "Argo," the fact that the outcome is known does not diminish the suspense or excitement of witnessing how Heyerdahl and company accomplished their own best bad idea. 

Never mind the guy with the hammer. "Kon-Tiki" could put this Thor back on the map.