Film Review — Troll
Norway’s answer to Godzilla stomps around in familiar territory.
A paleontologist leads a ragtag group on a desperate mission to stop an ancient creature previously thought to be the stuff of folklore.
Landing with an appropriate thud on Netflix, Troll — Roar Uthaug’s follow-up to 2018’s modestly successful Tomb Raider reboot — currently sits atop the UK’s top ten trending movies. A major achievement for a foreign language feature, and a reminder of just how much the streaming giant has done for international distribution and casual accessibility.
But viewers expecting some sort of authentically Norwegian experience might be left disappointed. Troll is undoubtedly a fun, leave-your-brain-at-the-door kinda kaiju movie, but it feels more determined to riff on Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay’s brand of America-centric action schlock from the nineties. And when I say riff I mean borrow liberally in a really distracting way.
Visually there are moments of legit awe, and Uthaug makes the right choices in building tension, demonstrating considerable restraint before the monster’s excellent first proper sighting. There’s also a superb epic rendition of “In the Hall of the Mountain King” which plays over the end credits and would’ve been fun had it been more integrated into the mayhem.
It’s just a shame Troll feels more focused on emulating its influences rather than living up to the promise of its unique premise. Still, it does remind us with a roar that monsters aren’t just for Hollywood backlots.
★★★☆☆
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