Troll – Movie Review
Director: Roar Uthaug
Writer: Espen Aukan (Screenplay)
Cast
- Ine Marie Wilmann (Sonja: The White Swan)
- Kim Falck
- Mads Sjøgård Pettersen (Eddie the Eagle)
- Gard B Eidsvold (In Order of Disappearance)
- Anneka von der Lippe
Plot: Deep in the Dovre mountain, something gigantic wakes up after a thousand years in captivity. The creature destroys everything in its path and quickly approaches Oslo.
Runtime: 1 Hour 41 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Troll starts when a construction tunnel through the Dovre mountain range, sees an incident happen. Palaeontologist Nora Tidemann (Wilmann) is called in to help the government understand what happened.
After arriving at the incident site, Nora starts to believe an ancient creature caused the incident. Now she must work with a team and rebuild her relationship with her father Tobian (Eidsvold) to stop it. the race is on to stop it before it makes it to Oslo.
Verdict on Troll
Characters
Nora Tidemann is a palaeontologist that is on the eve of the biggest discovery of her career. However, she gets pulled in to help with a new threat, one that can’t be explained. She must work through her father’s notes to understand the myths that have become a reality.
Andreas Isaksen is the Prime Minister’s aide that is assigned to work with Nora. Being a political figure, he does everything by the book until he gets to see things first-hand. Needing to learn how corrupt the system becomes under panic.
Kaptein Kristoffer Holm is the military figure assigned to the mission. He listens to Nora’s theories and is left in the middle of solving the problem or listening to military instructions.
The supporting characters are typical political figures that make rash decisions. This leads to more chaos instead of a calmer approach that could have solved the problem quickly.
Performances
The performances throughout the movie are great. Ine Marie Wilmann in the leading role shines as the character fights for the right decision. Kim Falck brings minor comedy to the role while maintaining the serious side throughout. Mads Sjøgård Pettersen brings a more respectable military figure to the movie.
Story
The story follows an accidental discovery that leads to a giant troll causing chaos throughout Norway. It sees a group of experts needing to work together to try and solve the problem before the military makes any rash decisions.
This is a story that could have easily just been a monster movie set in Norway. However, much like how ‘The Host’ did with South Korea, it dived into more backstory to what caused it. This brings a much-needed seriousness back to the movie, one that keeps this giant monster movie having an emotional level. For the core of the mission, it might well beat the same bell many other movies have before. But it didn’t need to change the monster side of the movie.
Themes
Troll is a fantastic monster movie, it brings the chaos of a Godzilla movie, the heart of a King Kong movie mixed together with Norwegian folklore to excellent effect. The special effects for the movie are amazing, nothing looks out of place in what could well be some of the best special effects this year. Add in the backdrop of the Norwegian mountain range, you have a beautiful location for the movie to unfold.
Where to Watch: Troll is available on Netflix.
Final Thoughts – Troll is an excellent monster movie, one of the best in modern years.
