Troll Hunter

In keeping with the latest trend of giving movies titles that tell you EXACTLY what happens in the movie, I give you Troll Hunter. It's about a guy. Who hunts trolls. And the film students who stumble upon him and begin filming.

Pros:
-Reasonably accurate attempt to integrate myth while still making it unique
-Stunning, bleak imagery which I assume is from Norway
-I liked the guy playing the troll hunter.
-The movie is a nice length; it didn't drag on too long.
-Impressive Troll effects.

Cons:
-Sketchy science used to explain some things about the trolls
-Made in mockumentary style; if you are like my mother and find this incredibly annoying, this movie is not for you!
-The movie is in Norwegian. If you hate subtitles, either learn Norwegian or watch a different movie.
-Character Development? What character development?

Verdict: B. Worth Seeing.

SPOILERS BELOW!

I must confess a disproportionate fondness for movies with giant monsters that have been known to kill and/or eat people. This probably does not reflect well on my mental state. As a movie about giant monsters,

And if you like governemnt conspiracies this is the movie for you! There is an entire secret division of the government which is, apparently, responsible for hiding the existence of trolls. They do this mostly by planting bear corpses where livestock and/or humans have been killed by trolls straying out of their territory. I may be a terrible person for laughing at bear corpses*, but they really look funny with their tongues dangling out of their mouths and stuff.

Anyways, things clearly are not adding up, and there is some suspicion that this mysterious man named Hans is killing bears. Apparently, this is a grave poaching crime, and only an ordained and specially licensed few are allowed the honor. So, some students set out, determined to get Hans's confession on camera for a vague and never fully explained reason. I think the fact that they are journalism students is supposed to be enough of an explanation.

The quickly realize that Hans is, in fact A TROLL HUNTER. As the audience knows from the eponymous title.

Predictably, the shit then hits the fan.

I am now going to dwell on things that did not work in the movie because I really really like complaining. That is why I have a blog you see!

I did have several problems with this movie. First of all, the science was a bit shoddy. A lot of fantasy movies have this problem. Instead of just saying "it's magic! believe!" they try to use "science" to make the film more believable. Sure...

Apparently, trolls turn to stone (or explode...) when exposed to sunlight because their bodies have intense over-reactions to sunlight. This doesn't make any sense for vampires or for trolls in my opinion. Sure, you could get an intense burn that could prove fatal. But it is not scientifically sound to say that sunlight can make anything explode in under five seconds. Just call it magic. Don't try to make it scientific. The same goes to the fact that the trolls can smell Christian blood. As far as I am aware, there is no special Jesus blood-type possessed by Christians. This is a mythical element that, while very interesting, is out of place if you are honestly trying to introduce trolls as an actual, not-so-bright, non-magical, mammal that is bound by the same biological laws as everything else.

Hey, while we're on that, let's examine the fact that, according to the film:

1) Trolls can live 1000+ years.
2) Trolls can only have one child.

Okay... once again, not scientifically good! If you are going to try to make fantasy scientifically viable, don't be a dumbass about it. Mammals can not live this long; their metabolisms are too wacky. And no species can only have one child per female. That just wouldn't work.

Secondly, there was no character development. We had the troll hunter. He hunts trolls for a secret government division. He does not like it. Then, we have the intrepid film studies students. They are students who will get the story NO MATTER WHAT!. This, apparently, includes stubborningly going with the film maker in search of a 200 foot tall troll after one of their number, the camera man, sniffed out by his Christian blood, is gruesomely killed. So... is mourning for chumps now or something? And the new camera woman? They tell her NOTHING until they are already heading out to troll territory! There is such a thing as taking a story too far.

In other news, there will apparently be a 2014 American remake of the film. If you want the skimpy info on this upcoming project, go ahead and follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_Hunter_(2014_film)
So, there can be lots of fun in three years time with arguing about which is the better movie! Won't that be FUN you guys? Maybe we can troll the internet about it (did you see what I did there?!?!).

ModernHelen

*I am sure that no bears were harmed in the making of this film.