Troll

Norway!

The neighbor country to Sweden ( where i live ), and let me tell you what makes Norway unique. If you go to Norway, you will see everyone wearing folk dresses. No one dresses modern there, they love their traditional folk costumes. If you even show a Norwegian a pair of shorts, they might throw them into a fire. You don´t wear shorts in Norway, it is simply not accepted. Some of them might begin to play flute, or a violin. In night time they throw of their folk dresses and run naked over the Norwegian mountains, in a tradition called Norsk midtsommerlop. I still have not understood why you have to run naked over a mountain in the middle of the night. But apparently it all makes perfect sense according to Norwegians. I might try it here in Sweden, just to see if it works. I have to mention that in Norway they also worship the greatest legend of all time, who is known as Kirk Cameron. Norwegians are obsessed in every TV show, every movie that Kirk Cameron have ever made. If you visit the home of a Norwegian citizen, pretty much all of them have the whole DVD box of Growing Pains. How do i know this? Just visit any Norwegian family and you will see for yourself. Norway is also known for their pop band A-ha, and of course their most big hit ever known as Take On Me. I have been to Norway several times in my youth, and if you love big mountains and fishing, this is the place you should go to. Norwegian films is something you don´t hear people talk about very often, but they have actually released some really good films over the years. One of the films that comes to my mind is the Norwegian disaster film The Wave, released in 2015. Directed by Roar Uthaug, this film tells the story of Geologist Kristian Eikjord ( Kristoffer Joner ), who is working his final day in the Norwegian tourist destination Geiranger, before moving to Stavanger with his family. But his journey there is soon stopped as a tsunami is causing chaos. The Wave is not only a really well made disaster film, but this film have some really good acting as well. Definetely worth checking out if you want to watch something good. How many of you remember the 2010 found footage film Trollhunter from director André Overdal? This film have become a Norwegian cult classis in the horror community, and it is a great film. Definetely a different take on trolls, with a plot that is interesting. Director Roar Uthaug have recently released his latest film simply called Troll on Netflix. Another Norwegian film about trolls? When i first heard about this film i knew i wanted to see it, so i finally took the time to watch it. Is this film as good as Trollhunter, or is Troll a film you might as well skip and just take a walk in the forest instead?

A drilling operation tunneling through the mountains of Drove results in an eruption and the deaths of several workers and protestors. Desperate for answers, the Norwegian government recruits a diverse array of scientists, including Professor Nora Tidemann ( Ine Marie Willman ), who is a Paleontologist. As the investigation goes on of what happened, Nora is one of the peoplewho clearly see evidence of very large footprints. They don´t know how they can explain this, but Nora is definetely curious to find some answers. When the evidence becomes much clearer, it seems that they might be facing something that no one has ever encountered before, except Nora´s father Tobias Tidemann ( Gard B. Eisvold ) who have knowledge that no in the modern world have ever seen before.

If you were hoping that Troll would be something similar to Trollhunter, i can tell you right away that these are two very different films. Both films may have a troll theme, but this latest Norwegian troll film reminds me more of a Godzilla film. You have a lot more action scenes and you actually see the massive troll more than you did in Trollhunter. What else does the Netflix film Troll have to offer more than this? There is a story between a daughter known as Nora ( played by actress Ine Marie Wilmann ) and her father Tobias ( played by actor Gard B. Eidsvold ), and how their relationship have been damaged since Nora´s mother passed away. I think this is actually a good idea to build in a different plot than just do an ordinary action disaster film. Both actors Ine Marie and Gard B. actually manage to capture the feeling of a daughter and father relationship on screen with their acting, and i actually think that they did a good job making you feel a connection to their characters. When it comes to acting in general in this film, it is a very mixed bag. Some characters are ok while others are nothing you will remember, So what actually saves Troll is the action scenes themselves, instead of the characters. This film have some impressive action scenes, that definetely feel like a throwback to monster movies of the past. To see a Norwegian film take on this kind of genre is defnetely different, and for the most part i am actually entertained. Does it mean that it is on the same level of the Godzilla films? Not even close, but i appreciate the effort they put into this film. The troll itself is actually pretty cool to look at, and does remind me of old school beast movies. Director Roar Uthaug proved with his film The Wave that he knows how to make disaster films, and with Troll he proves that he can make action films as well. It may have flaws but is still entertaining to watch. Troll is definetely not a film for everyone, and is most likely more appreciated by fans of monster movies or disaster movies as well. If you don´t know what to watch this Christmas, i think you should give Troll a chance on Netflix. One of the more entertaining Norwegian films i have seen in a while, and that´s coming from a man who don´t trust Norwegians ( how can i when they run naked over mountains ? ).

Rating: DDD