In the midst of Japan rebooting their Godzilla franchise to stunning effect with Godzilla Minus One and America delivering the Monsterverse on multiple fronts, it’s easy to forget that in 2022, Norway had their own crack at a Kaiju movie with Troll. While hardly groundbreaking in terms of story, it was a genuinely fun look at how other countries could make their own giant monster movies while utilising local folklore to smash some real estate. Well, while other countries haven’t yet really responded (I guess England already has Gorgo), Netflix has let director Roar Uthaug not only return to his world of gargantuan Trolls, but it’s resulted in largest film production ever in the Nordic countries.
Obviously, Kaiju rules dictate that if you have one monster in your first film, it’s imperative that your sequel has two in order for them to start throwing hands a soon as possible. But can Roar and a mostly returning cast manage to replicate the sweet, simple nature of the original, or do we have a sequel fit to be trolled?
We return to find paleontologist and Troll expert Nora Tidemann still reminiscing about the fairytales her late father used to tell her about trolls when she was a girl and we’ve found that she’s left the Norwegian agency that was put in place to search for more trolls due to the hypocritical nature of the way it was run. This doesn’t stop former colleague and nerd supreme, Andreas Isaksen, from seeking her out to ask for help when some new, troll-related chicanery comes to light.
Back during World War II, we were told that the mission dubbed Operation Gunnerside was about Norwegians sabotaging a Nazi heavy water plant (you know, the one from Heroes Of Telemark), however, what Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris left out was it was all a big smokescreen to capture and contain a giant Troll (dubbed Megatroll by Andreas) and store it underground. Reuniting with Captain Kris (now a major, but major Kris isn’t anywhere near as snappy), the group wonder what to do with the gargantuan beast, but after it awakes and goes on the usual rampage, Nora has a fairly unusual solution to hand.
After being tormented by the death of the Troll King years before, it seems that the “troll whisperer” has made a significant discovery that she’s kept to herself and it’s that the doomed beast had a son who is of a far milder disposition than most of his forebears. Determining that Megatroll is seeking revenge for King Olaf and the Christian church ordering the murder of countless trolls back in the middle ages, the team realises that their only hope is to use the good troll (whom Nora has named Beautiful) to halt this vengful rampage. But with battle lines drawn and quips flowing aplenty, a deeper dig into Norway’s ancient history uncovers a surprising revelation.
As fun as I found the first Troll, there was a part of me that was curious whether this Norwegian love letter to massive marauding monsters was actually a great film, or I was simply ensnared by a different country’s take on a genre that I genuinely adore. While the addition of Norwegian folklore into matters was an obvious boon, it wasn’t anything that André Øvredal’s superlative Troll Hunter hadn’t already done far better back in 2010. Elsewhere, the nerdy, self referential meta humour also felt highly reminiscent of Tommy Wirkola’s Dead Snow movies and even some of the action sequences felt cribbed from other movies such as a Spielbergian sense of wonder mixed with all the slack-jawed gawping you often get in a Roland Emmerich blockbuster. However, even when taken as a greatest hits package, Troll managed to win me over with its goofy charm and some pretty decent visuals which led me to look forward to the sequel.
Once again, however, we find Uthaug once again borrowing liberally from other sources but to noticably lesser effect as he’s managed to wrangle himself into a classic Kaiju scenario (there’s two now – and they fight!), but seemingly doesn’t have the tools or the talent to pull things off. What should have been a fun little ride on the giant coattails of Godzilla Vs Kong, soon starts writing checks it’s budget can’t cash and no amount of affable humour or ripping-off of other movies can save it from the law of diminishing returns.
Of course, if you can drop any and all cynicism and stomach a movie that not only is helpful enough to point out what films it’s actually robbing from in-movie (Andreas names the antagonist troll Megatroll after a scene highly reminiscent of Transformers) and even has the balls to have a meta conversation about the validity of sequels, you’ll probably have undemanding fun with this film despite its fairly numerous flaws. The returning cast still have an easy chemistry with each other despite being fairly forgettable and the movies eager to please tone makes in an easy watch, but whenever the film is tasked to take things to the next level, it constantly trips over its ginormous feet and stumbles when it should be bringing the literal house down.
While I recognise that not every film has the means to have Godzilla suplex King Kong off the side of an Egyptian pyramid, whenever Troll 2 finally sets its two monstrous start against each other, you hope that we’re about to get the digital equivalent of that old, Japanese classic, War Of The Gargantuas (their mossy hides even makes them slightly resemble the titular beasts from that movie), but frustratingly the film continuously pulls its punches when it should be hitting hardest. The final battle isn’t so much a thrilling troll brawl as it is a one sided beat down that sacrifices any visual pizazz by being oddly dull and it’s certainly not helped by the cast going on a weird, National Treasure inspired treasure hunt when it should be preparing for battle.
When it finds the right wavelength, Troll 2 proves to be a fun, if disposable experience (classic Netflix, in other words), with an attack on a ski lodge and a helicopter fight standing out. However, when it comes to making good on the promises of its poster, not even the overly emotional performances can stop you from feeling a little ripped off. In fact, every character seems to be so emotionally charged in this film, everyone seems to practically be on the verge of a tearful outburst at any given moment.
Once again wearing it’s many influences on its gigantic mossy sleeve, Troll 2 delivers on the basics, but can’t quite rustle up the visual muscle to do justice to its troll vs troll finale. While the cast and the director obviously have a ball making these things and some of that does come through (yes, of course they relentlessly tease a third film), this is one sequel that just can’t quite deliver the goods and as a result, sitting though the underwhelming climax feels too much like paying the troll toll.
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