The Wave

The Norwegians and the director Roar Uthaug in particular have a gift for megalomaniac movies. This one is no different from his signature style. The Wave actually pretty successfully copies the best American apocalyptic movies. Be it the characters, the logical and the illogical, the story or the special effects. And that’s actually pretty impressive when you realize the movie is actually from Norway. But with the label of an apocalyptic movie comes a whole plethora of afflictions that are simply a part of every similar movie. It definitely isn’t a bad thing, but it just will not get more than three stars from me. Nevertheless, I appreciate the idea, which was completely novel to me, and especially the shots of the fjords. These things made the film score some points with me. (12/18/2016)

Catastrophic movie made of two halves that are completely different in terms of quality. The first halve follows perhaps all possible genre rules and clichés, but in spite of that (or maybe because of that) it works absolutely perfectly. Largely it is due to the fact that it relies on the beauties of Geiranger, the movie is not afraid to show it. However, as soon as the tsunami hits, not only the picturesque tourist village is swept away into the ocean but also the so far quality and tension. Instead of bird's-eye view of fjords, an atmosphere of disturbing tension or some story lines with interesting characters, everything starts revolving around one flooded room and one "after apocalypse" that makes you stop believe it and it starts look like a playing on a disaster with a movie studio with some props. All characters except the central family are thrown overboard and the movie seems tense, forced and mediocre. Even so, there are a few scenes (literally; bus and panic) that wake you up, but otherwise you may way to often find yourself thinking about logical lapses (and there are plenty of those) and dealing with things that wouldn't even come to your mind if the movie had been catching. (12/06/2015)

A very pleasant surprise that shows that good disaster movies are not dead yet. I like that the Norwegians focused more on people, their relationships, and their destinies. It's more visceral overall and stronger in that regard. But then when it comes to the rush of water, it loses nothing and it's overwhelming until you want to run away too. (12/29/2015)

A more minimalist version of Emmerich's disaster movies produced in Norway, which, except for the relatively unadorned fjord setting, offers nothing particularly new within the genre and mostly depicts what has already been seen. Personally, at times I had quite a problem with some of the characters, whom I found exceedingly unlikeable, making it hard to root for them in this fierce battle with nature. On the other hand, I have to mention and praise some solidly suspenseful scenes, especially the ones with the evacuation and the arrival of the destructive wave. (03/18/2020)

The hope that the Nordic contribution to the, by now exhausted, disaster movie genre would bring some innovation begins and ends with Ane Dahl Trop fooling around, whose character of the intelligent, active, and loving mother is unparalleled in films of this type. The rest, while technically mature, is not particularly interesting. The last twenty minutes are pure Emmerichian facepalm. If you can't afford to take a plane for the holidays, you'll be pleased to see a young Stropnický lookalike in the male lead. (05/11/2016)