Review of 'Troll'

As a girl Nora Tidemann's (Ameli Olving Sælevik as a child, Ine Marie Wilmann as an adult) father, Tobias (Gard B. Eidsvold), teaches her the mythology of Trolls and the origin of their local mountains in Norway. Tobias believes the trolls are real, becoming a recluse as he becomes more and more obsessed with them. Nora grows up becoming a palaeontologist when she is called by the government to join a group of scientists investigating an eruption at a tunnel drilling site. It is soon plain to see that the drillers have disturbed a troll, long buried in the mountain. As the troll wrecks havoc it is up to Nora, her father, and their team to stop the troll before it reaches Oslo.

At times this feels like a bit of a rip off of “Jurassic Park”, you know, close up of a cup of coffee as it ripples to the thuds of an approaching creature, troll chasing a vehicle, creature crashing through buildings, etc., etc. I suppose there is not much you can really do with a big creature on the screen but here there is a difference: The creature is portrayed sympathetically as it was unjustly disturbed from it's sleep. The comparison of the two films is also justified when looking at the special effects: “Troll” looks great with a huge amount of care taken to convince us that it is real. Other than a few sequences this is largely achieved.

The film is frenetically paced which perhaps is not too surprising coming as it does from the director of the 2018 “Tomb Raider” re-make. He definitely has the touch of an action film director as we are treated to some amazing visuals and plenty of first-person perspectives. Truly stunning looking.

The cast is also superb here, very natural and convincing despite the preposterous premise. Ine Marie Wilmann in particular is wonderful to watch as she is thrown into a world where mythology has come to life yet at the same time seeing things a tad more objectively than the stereotypical gun-happy military baddie (perhaps the one slightly sour note here - really, this has been done to death!). Wilmann has a natural performance that draws us into her world and see what she sees.

“Troll” is simply amazing: Great effects, great story and great acting. Worth seeking out.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2023-03-04

Directed by: Roar Uthaug

Studio: Motion Blur Films

Year: 2022

Length: 101 minutes

Genre: Fantasy

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11116912/

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