Summary
Troll takes action movie tropes like the protagonist at odds with her parent, the geeky sidekick, the soldier-boy, the trigger-happy government official, etc., and has a lot of fun with them, making it, in turn, a lot of fun to watch.
We review the Netflix film Troll (2022), which does not contain spoilers.
2022’s Troll is a Norwegian monster disaster movie straight from the mind of filmmaker Roar Uthaug, who previously directed 2018’s Tomb Raider. Similarly to the likes of King Kong, Godzilla, and the T-Rex from Jurassic Park (all referenced in the movie’s runtime), Troll takes a folkloric creature, gives it life, and sets it loose in a populated area to catastrophic results. The film features an ensemble of some of Norway’s most prominent actors, including Ine Marie Wilmann, Kim Falck, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, and there’s even a short cameo by Golden Globe nominee Billy Campbell (The Killing).
In the first few minutes, we met our main character, paleontologist Nora Tidemann (Wilman). As a young girl, Nora used to discuss magical folklore with her dad as they went rock climbing. Now a successful academic, Nora spends her days digging out and studying fossil remains, primarily from dinosaurs. One day, something huge emerges from Dovre mountain, and the country’s government summons Nora away from her current project. At the top-secret underground government facility, she makes the acquaintance of Norway’s Prime Minister (Anneke von der Lippe) and her primary adviser, Andreas (Falck). Nora and Andreas head to Dovre mountain to further investigate the gigantic creature with the help of soldier hunk Kris (Mads Sjøgård Pettersen).
At first, the group is unsure of what sort of creature they’re looking for. It causes chaos and destruction wherever it goes, it leaves giant footsteps, and the sounds it makes are otherworldly. One elderly couple barely just escaped with their lives after the ginormous being literally stepped on their otherwise idyllic home. Eventually, Nora realizes there’s only one person she can turn to for help: Her eccentric father, Tobias (Gard B. Eidsvold). The two had previously fallen out because of Tobias’s belief that trolls were real and not just mystical products of Norse mythology.
What makes Troll so enjoyable is the way it stays true to its genre. It takes action movie tropes like the protagonist at odds with her parent, the geeky sidekick, the soldier-boy, the trigger-happy government official, etc, and has a lot of fun with them. The acting is as convincing as you’d expect from this type of feature. And the troll creature was a mix between scary and ridiculous, yet it somehow works. There’s even a good amount of comic relief, and some of the banter between our oddball group of characters hits all the right notes.
You’ve probably seen the same disaster movie formula done over and over again in aforementioned films like Godzilla, but there’s a reason these types of flicks keep getting made. It gives filmmakers a chance to blow things up and make use of the constantly evolving digital technology. It also gives the viewer a chance to escape their reality and fully immerse themselves in the silliness on screen. Sure, this Norwegian flick is full of cliches and you’ve probably seen it all before, but if you’re looking to be entertained for a couple of hours, Netflix’s Troll is perfect to watch at the end of a cold winter day.
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