Troll

For Whom
The Bell Trolls

Troll
Directed by Roar Uthaug
Norway 2022
Motion Blur Films

Just a very quick shout out to the new movie Troll, directed by Roar Uthaug, who did the last Tomb Raider movie (reviewed here). Troll is, as the title suggests, a movie about the discovery of the existence of.... and in this case, the ensuing rampage of... a Troll in Norway. After a bit of emotional set up from the film’s lead protagonist and her father (played by Gard B. Eidsvold), talking about trolls and the place of fairy tale creatures in the modern world, we jump 20 years to find that the kid, Nora (now played by Ine Marie Wilmann) has grown up to be a paleontologist. However, just as she’s finally discovered a dinosaur on a dig, a government helicopter is sent ot pick her up to advise the prime minister (played by Anneke von der Lippe) about what it is they could be facing after ‘something’, has broken out of a mountain and left giant footprints around, after said mountain has been dynamited by people trying to build a road through it. Of course, the something is, indeed, a troll like the ones her estranged father tried to get her to believe in when she was a kid and it’s up to her, her father, the prime minister’s aide (played by Kim Falck) and a young military officer (played by Mads Sjøgård Pettersen) to track the troll down (not a problem) and stop it from being a threat (a bit of a taller order, it has to be said).

And it’s great. Damn near perfect, in fact. Especially since the casting is spot on and you have the movie populated by credible actors who are able to pull the audience in and make the fantastic subject matter more palatable... so good job there. Unlike, say, the excellent Troll Hunter (reviewed here)... which was a ‘found footage’ movie anyway, if memory serves... Troll is a very slick affair filled with fluid camera shots and both fast and slow editing, where necessary, to create the required sense of urgency in any given scene. And it’s got the special effects to back it up, too.

So yeah, it’s basically a giant monster on the loose movie, Norwegian style and, indeed, midst all the many Star Trek, Star Wars and various other pop culture references throughout the movie (not to mention another appearance of the Wilhelm scream), somebody does indeed mention it’s a ‘Norwegian Godzilla’ at one point. So, yeah, if anything, this film is certainly a lot of fun and is one of the better made monster movies of the last ten years or so. Which begs the question, why the hell do I have to be watching this thing streaming on a small screen when the quality and spectacle of this one is of such a standard that I should have been given the option of watching it in a proper cinema screen with a decent sound system? This is where the streaming channels who bankroll these things show themselves to be as much against the art of cinema and the film they are funding as they are in getting the thing made. I would have loved to have seen this on an IMAX screen, for sure.

All this is backed up by an incredible score by Johannes Ringen which, unbelievably, is not available as a stand alone CD (just some stupid electronic download... absolute rubbish option). The whole thing is fast paced, never in danger of being dull and has some extremely likeable characters who are relatable enough to care about when things start getting dangerous for them. And, also, there’s a mid-post-credits scene which helps to throw up the possibility of a second movie if this one makes enough money. So, yeah, once again I find myself apologising that this is, indeed, a very short review of the film but, with a product like Troll, it’s hard to find much of anything bad to say about it. Like I said before, pretty much a perfect movie and one which I will recommend to a lot of people. Don’t miss out on this one.