This Hollywood-style Norwegian monster movie rips along at breakneck speed and features likable characters and a fairy tale-inspired plot.
Troll is the King Kong of Scandinavia, a ginormous creature that comes alive out of the rocks and earth of the mountainside and can crush tiny humans in his fist and throw helicopters around like toys.
The film throws in some themes about sins committed in the name of Christianizing Norway and nature "pushing back" on human encroachments. But don't go looking for serious commentary in this movie (not that you would in a film called Troll).
Characters are mostly archetypes -- the crazy believer, the savior scientist, the macho military man, the good folks who stand up to authority, etc. -- but you care about them. Wilmann is particularly strong at the film's center, infusing her character with pathos -- never overacting, she contributes to making the tale somehow believable.
It's refreshing to see women in the lead roles, right up to the country's Prime Minister, and wielding the most power. Some pieces of the storytelling feel especially formulaic yet add nothing to the film as a whole, like forgettable Bourne-style datelines to set up locations and a rousing victory speech by a rogue captain towards the end.
Troll is surprisingly fun, and that's enough.
Read the full review at Common Sense Media.
Images courtesy of Netflix