A group of unorthodox people does everything they can to prevent an ancient creature from reaching Oslo.
Hollywood-style action/adventure that excites as much as it divides. The solid first act is the exciting part. Firstly, the child’s perspective plants the seed of faith, then the rapid editing builds up suspensefully the faith, and then the faith turns into a nightmare. Everyone’s disbelief and the destruction the troll leaves in its path, but not its actual appearance, increase the suspense and maintain your attention until it actually appears and until the military operation against it begins. Somewhere there, the subplot surfaces, the troll becomes the reason the damaged father/daughter relationship gets a second chance, you get sucked into it, and then you remember that, oh yeah, there is a troll strolling somewhere.
The Norwegian military operation is blatantly stupid and doomed to fail as any Hollywood military operation is, and everyone knows it beforehand. At least it’s well-shot and edited, so it will keep you glued. Unfortunately, but predictably, the same military bottomless buffoonery is infinitely amplified in the end, and one can only hope that the alternative will work. Every time I see these kinds of military operations, I get the feeling that there is an underlying message, something along the lines of ‘Hey! If that was not a mythical creature/alien/Jaeger/god/whatever, we would have kicked his a$$’ – a hint towards whatever country’s real-life potential enemies.
Anyway, without elaborating further, Roar Uthaug’s Troll is enjoyable. Suppose you can overlook the Hollywood-style filming and the rudimentary story and character development. In that case, the visuals are great, the audio is superb, the acting is convincing, and the photography is compelling. Above all, though, it is beautifully edited. Christoffer Heie and Jens Peder Hertzberg’s editing is what makes it so good despite the aforementioned flaws.
Enjoy it without over-thinking about it, and you’ll be all right.
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Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
