Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds

4th August 2011

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TROLLHUNTER (dir. André Øvredal, 2010)

Since The Blair Witch Project catapulted the ‘found-footage’ genre into the mainstream, countless numbers of independent efforts are thrown out each year to much varying standard – TrollHunter falls somewhere on middle ground in terms of its success, but is by no means lacking in entertainment value.

We follow a trio of indistinguishable Norwegian students aiming to uncover the truth about a series of disappearances in the mountains and forests of their homeland. Their exploration lands them on the trail of the titular huntsman, leading them to uncover more than they bargained for.

Despite a slow opening, compensated for by shots of stunning landscapes (almost invoking Herzog), the film develops once the hunter and his subjects are introduced. That the creatures are exposed in their entirety early on is of benefit to the film (an irritation that suffered the similar themed Cloverfield, for instance), giving a welcome down-to-earth feel to proceedings.

It drags at times and is highly predictable. Yet with subtle humour (hints of the hunter’s personal life; or the trolls themselves, all slow and dim-witted) and quirky mythology (trolls able to ‘smell the blood of Christians’), this is one of the more fun experiences to be had at the cinema this year.

Tagged: trollhunter 2010nornorwegian cinemaAndré Øvredal