Trollhunter: There Really are Trolls in Norway.

Hello everybody! Today we have an interesting film about trolls. Yes I said trolls. Time for some Trollhunter.

TROLLHUNTER

STARRING: Otto Jespersen, Hans Morten Hansen, Tomas Alf Larsen, Johanna Mørck, Knut Nærum, Robert Stoltenberg, Glenn Erland, Tosterud

DIRECTOR: André Øvredal

GENRE: Dark Fantasy

YEAR: 2010

COUNTRY: Norway

When bears are found dead in Norway, the students of the Volda University Thomas, Johanna and the cameraman Kalle decide to investigate. They stalk the trailer of the mysterious hunter Hans expecting to find an explanation for the killings. The reluctant Hans tries to flee from the youngsters, but he agrees that they film him in action provided they follow his orders. Sooner the trio of students learns that Hans is actually a troll hunter that works for a secret government agency. Further, several dangerous trolls have escaped from their territory and Hans is assigned to eliminate them.

Part Ghostbusters and Cloverfield — with a satiric touch of social conscience à la District 9 — Ovredal’s mix of dark comedy, hinterlands travelogue and divertingly rough CGI handiwork yields entertaining results, including Jespersen’s fantastically deadpan performance and the suspenseful, nervously funny interactions with their towering, sunlight-averse prey. (The wonderful troll design work by Håvard S. Johansen and Ivar Rødningen has a texturally icky authenticity.)

It’s to the movie’s credit how sweetly anthropological the film’s take on these fairy-tale stalwarts is, because for now it feels like a bracing, low-key corrective to summer’s in-your-face glut of superpower heroics.

It’s hardly a flawless film. The pacing staggers to the point of breaking at some points, and the constant details sometimes drag on painfully. Sometimes it teeters under the weight of its own pseudo-cleverness. But it’s also so farcically well-crafted that it still manages to be an overall entertaining film — bolstered by some absolutely stunningcinematography of Norway, no doubt. Not to mention that while it’s at times disconcerting, overall the film doesn’t suffer from the usual shaky-cam dizziness that plagues other films of its ilk.

Troll Hunter is a con, in many ways. It’s a satire and a gentle slap to the face of its genre, a smart, sassy and strangely sweet tale that subverts its contemporaries while still telling an innovative, entertaining story.

PROS:

•  Found Footage technique.
• Mockumentary Genre.
• Interesting characters.
• Impressive Trolls.

CONS:

•  Choice of shots,
• Main cast performance.

SCORE: 7.5 / 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9dgeYkYOZA

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