Troll Review: From Current Events To Mythology Nordic Folklore at the Service Of Action

Cast: Ine Marie Wilmann, Kim Falck, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, Gard B. Eidsvold, Karolina Viktoria Sletteng Garvang

Director: Roar Uthaug

Streaming Platform: Netflix

Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

This is Troll, a Norwegian film that surprised locals and strangers a few months ago with its interesting trailer and now comes to the platform as an original film to demonstrate its potential. In charge of the project, we have Roar Uthaug, whom many of you will know for having directed the 2018 Tomb Raider film with Alicia Vikander, or the catastrophic thriller The Wave (Bølgen). The trailer for Troll already pointed to ways that we were going to find a blockbuster with hints of Nordic folklore and that aroma of Godzilla that cannot help but emanate. Today, at Hobby Consolas, we bring you our review of Troll. Will she be worthy of entering the pantheon of giant monster movies?

After reinventing the cinematic adventures of Lara Croft in 2018, Norwegian director Roar Uthaug has now returned to his homeland to take care of a monster movie, this time with global distribution via Netflix, as you can read in our Trolls review. Scandinavian mythology, environmentalism and a good dose of action are the main components of Troll, a Norwegian production directed by filmmaker Roar Uthaug, which arrives on Netflix on December 1st. December starts on Netflix with the promise of bringing us some interesting series like Sonic Prime, with which the platform will end the year. But in terms of cinematography, we will also have a movie that will stand out, and the first one will arrive on December 1.

Troll Review: The Story Plot

The original Netflix film is based on the premise of the existence of trolls, and folklore creatures from countries like Norway. These creatures, gigantic as a mountain and with stony bodies, disappeared hundreds of years ago, and have become myths. However, the construction of a tunnel in a mountainous region of Norway awakens something that nobody would have imagined and that has baffled politicians, the military, and scientists. Only a paleontologist, educated by her father in the world of folklore, ends up discovering that the creature that has awakened from its slumber is a troll. The problem, of course, is that the 40-meter-tall stone friend is headed for Oslo, and has the same penchant for redecorating cities as colossi like King Kong or Godzilla.

Nora Tidemann, the paleontologist, has always been fascinated by the past, in part because her father, obsessed with Scandinavian myths and folklore, has always told her with absolute certainty that trolls exist. And now it seems that the old man was right: the works inside a tunnel wake up a mysterious creature imprisoned inside the mountain, which begins to sow panic along the way. Hired by the government, Nora must figure out whom they are dealing with and the monster’s goal. And all this in a limited time, since the size of the troll will allow him to quickly reach large population centers, and especially the capital Oslo.

Troll Review and Analysis

Roar Uthaug has always enjoyed exploring the contaminations between film genres popular in the United States and the Norwegian context, ever since his debut Cold Prey which took slasher conventions to the top of the mountains. In particular, in 2015, with The Wave (seen in Italy at the Turin Film Festival), he inaugurated a real line of disaster movies linked to the specificity of the Norwegian landscape, and with Troll, the discussion extends to the monster movie, along the lines of the recent Godzilla and King Kong cycle produced by Warner Bros. from 2014 onwards. A courageous choice in some ways, given that updating the myths about those creatures may seem like a futile exercise when the formidable Troll Hunter already exists, where the found footage filter was applied to Nordic landscapes.

In fact, and here perhaps the Netflix factor has something to do with it which can neutralize even the strongest projects at least in part, during the approximately 100 minutes of the film that exquisite local specificity is lacking, which is limited to superficial considerations treated almost as a disturbing element between one macro sequence and another. Every time an interesting reflection comes forward (especially for the religious issue linked to the conflict between men and trolls), it is quickly set aside to make room for the worst clichés of US origin, with a result that is yes funny, but close to the minimum indispensable. And obviously, we are already thinking about a possible franchise, as can be guessed from the fact that, more unique than rare, the platform does not try to move on to anything else after a few seconds of credits…

We can highlight, yes, the photography of Troll: Norwegian landscapes are always a gift for the eyes. It’s something we’ve seen in other Nordic series like Ragnarok (from Sweden), and that Netflix’s Norwegian blockbuster makes sure to exploit. We can highlight, yes, the photography of Troll: Norwegian landscapes are always a gift for the eyes. It’s something we’ve seen in other Nordic series like Ragnarok (from Sweden), and that Netflix’s Norwegian blockbuster makes sure to exploit. Troll isn’t a bad movie: it’s entertaining and fast-paced, and its characters, although we’ve even seen them in the soup, work. But it is a film that does not innovate or risk beyond taking advantage of the “boom” for Nordic folklore that has been experienced in recent years in the rest of the world.

Troll Review: The Last Words

Roar Uthaug continues his exploration of Hollywood genres in Norwegian sauce with Troll, but in this round, the contamination dampens the specifically Nordic identity of the project. Troll is a perfect movie to watch when you have no idea what to watch, but don’t want to rack your brains looking for it. If what you are looking for is a movie that moves you and makes you redefine your existence, go your way. Despite its bizarre mix of blockbuster fanfare with Norse mythology, Troll offers just-compliant CGI and functional, but flat characters.