Trollhunter is about a Norwegian guy with a beard who tracks down giant trolls and blasts them with a UV lamp that turns them into stone. And the greatest strength of Trollhunter is that it’s very much aware that that’s what it’s about, and it doesn’t try to hold back the laughs that inevitably come with such a ridiculous premise. Indeed, what sets this enjoyable Norwegian import apart from other “found footage” thrillers like Cloverfield is its rich sense of humor; it’s exciting and even a little scary to watch the mighty Trollhunter take on a particular nasty beastie on a bridge in an ode to The Three Billy Goats Gruff, but an even more memorable moment has him sitting in a diner and filling out post-mortem paperwork as he grumbles about the bureaucracy of the TSS (Troll Security Service). Trollhunter is steeped in both myth (the trolls can indeed smell the blood of a Christian man) and science (there’s an actual mildly plausible explanation as to why sunlight turns them into statues), which makes for a sometimes uneasy mix, but the film’s sheer dedication to itself makes for an often funny, sometimes harrowing and surprisingly even occasionally melancholy fable.
Comments
New On Netflix: Trollhunter