"Trollhunter" finds a unique niche within the "found footage" subgenre that allows it to mostly overcome its central gimmick of pretending it's made from real footage - it's Norwegian and it focuses on trolls.
The cultural bent to this story can't be underestimated. A hunt for trolls in North America just wouldn't work. Norway's remoteness, and that troll lore originates from that part of the world, adds distinctive character and the subtle notion of "if it were true, wouldn't it look something like this?"
The film follows college trio Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), Johanna (Johanna Mørck) and Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) tracking down an infamous bear-hunter named Hans (Otto Jespersen) for a school project interview. When they pursue him too closely, however, they discover that he's actually hunting trolls, which not only exist, but seem to be breaking out of their territory and into human domain more than usual of late.
Filmmaker André Øvredal plays coy at the beginning until the troll discovery is made, and he really launches into world-building, explaining all the peculiarities of trolls (e.g. the three main kinds, how they can be killed, their ability to smell Christian blood, etc.) Øvredal really embraces this, playing off the attributes of vampire hunter movies and generally trying to appeal to viewers who like to buy into the fantasy of it all. The story then unfolds partly like a documentary and partly like a horror thriller (and even a video game).
The thrills and the entertainment value therefore come in the hunting scenes. The formula gets a tad repetitive, but all the world-building and myth-focused information that comes out of the documentary-style footage creates anticipation for the subsequent troll bout. With visual effects that clear the necessary hurdles for fantasy filmmaking, "Trollhunter" avoids more damning criticism of being cheap or falling flat in these pivotal moments.
We hardly get to know the students, who are supposed to be the main characters in movies like this, and that keeps us feeling safely distant from what's happening as opposed to right up in the action. We play the observer, not really putting ourselves into the shoes of these students discovering trolls are real (and very dangerous).
On the other hand, Hans is a fascinating subject and emerges as the film's true main character. (He does get the most screen time, technically). The choice to paint Hans as a veteran who has been doing this a long time and has grown disenchanted with the work and the government processes in place to deal with trolls turns out to be the best creative choice from a writing perspective. Jespersen gets to not just play a bad***, but one with inner torment. Part of this character choice proves necessary from a functional standpoint because his attitude allows him to be okay with bringing the students along with him, but it also gives dimension to Hans in the way the best documentaries do with their subjects.
Successful genre films often blend old or familiar stories and techniques with new ideas and that gives "Trollhunter" its freshness. So many films have been built on the found footage premise, or the monster-hunting premise, or the premise of imagining certain literary or mythological creatures are indeed real and "Trollhunter" neither denies borrowing from those sub-genres nor does it become too hampered by them.
~Steven C
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The cultural bent to this story can't be underestimated. A hunt for trolls in North America just wouldn't work. Norway's remoteness, and that troll lore originates from that part of the world, adds distinctive character and the subtle notion of "if it were true, wouldn't it look something like this?"
The film follows college trio Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), Johanna (Johanna Mørck) and Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) tracking down an infamous bear-hunter named Hans (Otto Jespersen) for a school project interview. When they pursue him too closely, however, they discover that he's actually hunting trolls, which not only exist, but seem to be breaking out of their territory and into human domain more than usual of late.
Filmmaker André Øvredal plays coy at the beginning until the troll discovery is made, and he really launches into world-building, explaining all the peculiarities of trolls (e.g. the three main kinds, how they can be killed, their ability to smell Christian blood, etc.) Øvredal really embraces this, playing off the attributes of vampire hunter movies and generally trying to appeal to viewers who like to buy into the fantasy of it all. The story then unfolds partly like a documentary and partly like a horror thriller (and even a video game).
The thrills and the entertainment value therefore come in the hunting scenes. The formula gets a tad repetitive, but all the world-building and myth-focused information that comes out of the documentary-style footage creates anticipation for the subsequent troll bout. With visual effects that clear the necessary hurdles for fantasy filmmaking, "Trollhunter" avoids more damning criticism of being cheap or falling flat in these pivotal moments.
We hardly get to know the students, who are supposed to be the main characters in movies like this, and that keeps us feeling safely distant from what's happening as opposed to right up in the action. We play the observer, not really putting ourselves into the shoes of these students discovering trolls are real (and very dangerous).
On the other hand, Hans is a fascinating subject and emerges as the film's true main character. (He does get the most screen time, technically). The choice to paint Hans as a veteran who has been doing this a long time and has grown disenchanted with the work and the government processes in place to deal with trolls turns out to be the best creative choice from a writing perspective. Jespersen gets to not just play a bad***, but one with inner torment. Part of this character choice proves necessary from a functional standpoint because his attitude allows him to be okay with bringing the students along with him, but it also gives dimension to Hans in the way the best documentaries do with their subjects.
Successful genre films often blend old or familiar stories and techniques with new ideas and that gives "Trollhunter" its freshness. So many films have been built on the found footage premise, or the monster-hunting premise, or the premise of imagining certain literary or mythological creatures are indeed real and "Trollhunter" neither denies borrowing from those sub-genres nor does it become too hampered by them.
~Steven C
Thanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more