Trolljegeren
You'll believe it when you see it!
Rating: 7/10
Running Time: 103 minutes
US Certificate: PG-13 UK Certificate: 15
On DVD
Hans (Jespersen) works for the TSS – Troll Security Service – helping to keep the pesky trolls of Norway at bay. Yes, that’s right, trolls. Apparently they’re quite a big problem in Norway so they need a man to secretly make sure that they stay in certain areas away from people. This bear of a man attracts the unwanted attention of a college documentary crew but soon, because of a deep job dissatisfaction, he opens up the world of trollhunting to them and lets them follow his every move.
Trollhunter entertainingly follows in the footsteps of Finland’s Rare Exports to bring us more Scandinavian fairy tales absurdly transfered over into the real world. André Øvredal mixes horror, understated-comedy and children’s stories to create an impressively mature and charming movie that’s very enjoyable to watch. Hans is a really cool charismatic lead character who’s very likeable and the kind of guy you would both have protect you and read you bedtime stories. Also, the main reporter (Tosterud) grows on you and the first-person camera ploy isn’t original but it’s well done. The depth of detail is impressive as they get all the troll fairy tale references in there – maybe it’s a bit more of a Scandinavian thing as the trolls don’t feature that heavily but it’s not exactly rocket science to understand – and it’s consistently more interesting than any scares they try and hit you with.
For many the crux of Trollhunter is the appearance of the troll itself. Either the cartoonish appearance of the Troll positively adds to the silly feeling of the film or it’s a massive letdown that carries on the grand tradition of monsters that disappoint. So, it really depends on whether you let the creatures spoil the film for you or not. Also, even though it’s not necessarily a long film, it still feels like the subject matter is a little stretched.
It's Got: Lots of fascinating detail, a cool main character, a mix of shocks and fun
It Needs: Just to be trimmed a little, for you to be open-minded with what a movie monster should look like
DVD Extras A tapas of extras - lots of them but not that much of substance. We get delete scenes, bloopers, extended scenes, making of featurettes, behind the scenes featurettes, DVD Extras Rating: 6/10
Summary
This faux-footage offering from Norway is simultaneously funny, innovative, ridiculous and sometimes a little scary. It’s an enjoyable study into the real life world of trolls – as long as you can look past the cartoony appearance of the CGI beasts.