The Wave

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. (2016-05-11)

Norwegians in form!! The Wave is a very gripping disaster movie with some awesome sequences (I almost regret not waiting for the cinema in January). The opening is a bit slower, with the classic character bonding and impending threat, but once the avalanche arrives on the scene, bringing with it an 80m tidal wave in a small remote Norwegian town, the fun is taken care of. Evacuations, chaos, panic of the highest caliber!! Roar Uthaug has a knack for creating tension and atmosphere and I guarantee that 20 minutes into the middle of the film you won't be able to breathe, you'll utter 45 swear words, you'll sweat and maybe even shed a tear like I did. After an hour, The Wave turns sub-genres into post-apocalyptic, which slightly starts to remind you of the Spanish film The Impossible. It goes nicely, the emotions and empathy work. I'm surprised how decent it was. 80%. (2015-12-10)

The first half is good, filmed with a typical Nordic feel for an obsessively arranged and illuminated pre-camera space, but above all with such slow tension that one also enjoys the necessary genre clichés. Unfortunately, the half after the disaster is completely barren, the film loses both tension and the captivating landscape, and the attempt to make a claustrophobic and dimly lit survival drama has to deal with a truly lazy screenplay (purposeful random side characters) and sentimental filler known from US disaster films. The wave is a bit of a paradox, and as national blockbuster it will hold up, but outside of Norway it competes with Hollywood productions with the same collection of clichés in a much cheaper version. This is not exactly the optimal way forward. More like a nice splash. [60%] (2016-01-09)

Based on true events, The Wave tells the story of a family trying to escape from the grip of a massive tsunami created by the landslide of a large mountain range into the Geirangerfjord. Firstly, I enjoyed the breathtaking Norwegian nature, to which I have an emotional connection. I spent some time in Geiranger a few years ago, so I literally devoured the screenplay about a catastrophe set in this environment. The film's slower pace perfectly supported the carefully constructed oppressive atmosphere, which escalated perfectly as the population fled the raging elements. The ensuing fight for survival was so tense that at times I wasn't even breathing. It's just a pity the ending was overly happy because if it had ended five minutes earlier, I would have thought about giving it five stars. (80%) (2020-09-25)

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. (2015-12-29)