Review: TROLLHUNTER (2010)

There aren't many films left on THE BIG LIST ...

Today's movie is Trollhunter (2010).



My son, James, will go first:

Well, this one is awesome! The reason it's awesome is because the camera moves like the camera in Cloverfield and because the trolls are huge! And because the sun light kills them by making them either explode or  turning then into stone.  My favorite troll was the huge Jotnar one at the end.  Yes I had to look that up to spell it right. 

So, rating wise, i'll say 4.2 out of 5 Atomic Breaths of Awesomeness!

My turn:

When we come by movies on the list that we haven't seen before, I get nervous.  I have good reason to.  In the past, those didn't go so well (Daigoro, The Magic Serpent, ...).  The Host was a great surprise.  Trollhunter was, too. 

From Norway, it's another found footage film.  I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but Cloverfield works and so does this.  A group of college students are trying to chase down a bear poacher and instead they find an embittered government worker. 

 

Yep, that's Hans. 

For decades, he has struggled, singlehandedly, to keep Norway's troll population in check and a secret.  Lately, something has been sending the creatures far afield of their usual stomping grounds and with deadly results.  Hans is tired of doing this dreadful work all alone and with no pay or respect, so he lets the college kids document his work.   

Once we get into Hans' world, there's a fantastic lived-in quality to the story.  That trolls exist, their classifications, how they turn to stone, the fact that there's government paperwork to be filled out when he kills one ... it adds layers of fun and authenticity. 

What about the special effects?  Well, the worst effects in the whole movie involve the fake dead bears you see near the beginning.  Beyond that, the trolls look great.  Really.  Very impressive stuff. 

The actors are likeable, but Hans definitely carries the film.  The pacing is pretty good, but the first half hour moves like a glacier through a fjord, it seems.  (After that, it's all good.)  The story is pretty thin, and I think that's a side effect of the found footage genre.  Whether by intention or not, the filmmaker doesn't have to fully give the viewer any meat on most of the characters or (as seen in this movie) a real ending. 

Trollhunter ... still fun.  3.75 out of five atomic breath blasts.

Here's the trailer:



Up next, Godzilla director Gareth Edwards' Monsters.

(GIFs from moviesludge)