A big, popcorn-munching thriller that’s crying out for a cinema release
Troll is a great film released at the worst time of year. This is a sizzling summer blockbuster through and through, and plays out, in its simplest form, as a Scandinavian Kaiju movie. There are elements of King King, Godzilla and Independence Day all blended together to create a simple, fun, action-packed flick.
Trolls are deeply embedded into Norwegian folklore and this Netflix Original movie exploits that for everything it can. With faint wisps of humour and a fast-paced plot.
The story follows a group of misfits as they band together to try and stop a monstrous creature from causing havoc across the country. Deep in the Dovre mountains, an explosion rocks the surrounding area, unleashing a huge behemoth on the rural landscape, terrorizing the locals.
Destroying everything in its path, this creature sets its sights on Oslo and begins to march there methodically. To avoid certain destruction, it’s up to Paleobiology expert Nora Tidemann, the Prime Minister’s advisor Andreas Isaksen and Captain Kris of the army to try and find a solution before it’s too late.
Complicating matters further is Nora’s father Tobias, who knows more about Trolls and folklore than anyone in these parts. Only, Nora has an estranged relationship with her crazed father and that may prove to be a sticking point. But can they resolve their differences to solve Norway’s monster problem?
The story itself is pretty straightforward, although when the creature is shown around the midway point, most of the drama and mystery dissipates, replaced instead with a good ol’ fashioned action flick. There’s nothing wrong with that of course and in many ways the movie feels very akin to the 90’s Godzilla movie in both its tone and presentation.
The characters are all likable but not particularly deep. Andreas has a simple but satisfying arc, Nora and Tobias are the glue that hold this together, while Captain Kris injects the movie with some testosterone as the gum-chewing military man.
The problem with Troll comes from its questionable logic and its recycled plot. There are scenes in this that have been ripped right from other monster movies – some of which I’ve already mentioned. Finding a giant footprint is a nod to Godzilla; vibrations causing water to move is in Jurassic Park; a giant creature fighting off helicopters is in King Kong. These sequences continue throughout the movie and you’ll find yourself checking off all the movies this riffs on across the 90 minute run-time.
This is the sort of movie that if you even stop to think about for a second, the logic falls apart and you’re going to have a bad time. No foreign governments getting involved is a big point of contention, while even more damning, the movie doesn’t really give Kris a compelling ending either.
Despite all that, Troll is still a fun movie. It’s a big, popcorn-munching flick that’s crying out for a cinema release in the height of summer. As it stands though, this is still a winter wonder and a fun way to kill an hour and a half.
Read More: Troll Ending Explained
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Verdict - 7/10
7/10
I am so perplexed by the high ratings this movie has garnered. To the point where I’m wondering if I watched the same movie. The writing is shallow and cliche, the acting is mostly bad, the story is bland. Did I miss something?
I definitely enjoyed the movie. Though I have to admit, by the end it began to taper off into the ridiculous, with the Salam alaiykum home guard listening to a low-ranking captain and sigrid “hacking” a fighter jet within 30 minutes and knocking out grown men cold.
What a great movie. It has all the tropes, it relies heavily on suspending our disbelief and its alot like other movies with giant monsters. So what? The acting was actually quite good. Much much better acting than big name shows like Willow and the Lord of the rings tv show. Those shows were also based off of other stories written by other people. Marvel has had great acting or good stories. We all still watch
Troll was fun, well acted, the special effects were great. It was a good movie. Well done.
This is one of those movies that is so spectacularly bad that it’s awesome. I suspended all belief and was forced to put down my phone for a hour and a half and even though it was terrible, I enjoyed it immensely. But dear god it’s awful…
this movie is terrible! the writing is pitiful ripoff of dozens of past movies. 0% originality. acting is high school level. The troll cgi is somewhat believeable somewhat and sometimes pitiful. if Cloverfield and Godzilla and King Kong are all the 90+ range this is a less than 10, really a waste of time
7/10????!!!!!! 3.5 at best. No plot, flat-as-hell characters, formulaic Hollywood blockbuster trash. If you want a Troll fix watch Troll Hunter – BRILLIANT found footage, a breath of Nordic fresh air.
This film is average at best, the script writing, plot and characters are all completely unbelievable and un-relatable. They don’t believe it’s a Troll at first (which is understandable) Then even when they see the Troll in person, up close, fight it, get chased by it…They STILL don’t accept it’s a troll.
The film is such a trope, it plays out exactly as you expect, doesn’t surprise you even once, has obnoxious, completely unlikeable characters, and to be honest even the Troll itself is wholly uninteresting.
This film literally has nothing to offer its a complete waste of time and money.