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| Images courtesy Netflix |
Holiday seasons often require some sort of film that a whole family could sit down and watch together. And if that family is tired of Hallmark Channel-esque Christmas movies, then the new, Norwegian monster movie Troll could work just fine.
An ancient troll is awakened in the Norwegian mountains after hundreds of years and starts heading towards capital city Oslo. Like other big budget monster movies, this one borrows from many previous blockbusters, including Jurassic Park, to really entertain. Though Troll doesn’t really add anything new to the genre, it’s brief 101 minutes work pretty well.
Nora Tidemann (Ine Marie Wilmann) grew up in the mountains with her father Tobias (Gard B. Eidsvold) and lots of legends and lore about trolls. But in present day, she’s sought out for her expertise as a paleontologist once the troll is awakened. Like so many other smart characters in monster movies, she becomes the scientific advisor to the military in dealing with the troll.
The movie goes where you might expect, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously along the way. The script weaves in enough of the troll legends for a non-Scandinavian viewer to follow along and understand the context and jokes, of which there are plenty. The comedy of the film almost overtakes the adventure elements, but is balanced out by some genuine family moments between Nora and Tobias.
There’s a lot of creativity on display here by director Roar Uthaug, who’s previously tackled other blockbuster films, like the Tomb Raider reboot with Alicia Vikander and Norwegian disaster movie The Wave (2015). Ways of confronting the troll and working in Grieg’s In The Hall of The Mountain King’ into the film’s score are just a few of the creative flourishes that keep this as a fun diversion.
Troll is currently streaming on Netflix.
-Eric Beach