Troll Hunter (2010)

Review by Sean Patterson



"So now we know that Trolls can explode!"

A group of three documentarians sets out to catch a bear poacher in the wilds of Norway. What they find changes the way they look at their would-be poacher--and puts them in significant danger.
Troll Hunter is told in the mold of The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield: a supposed found-footage documentary. I must admit that while I enjoy the concept, I've never felt the sub-genre has really worked other than for Paranormal Activity. I particularly loathed Cloverfield. The problem for me is that the characters are never fully developed. Indeed, when one of your cast members is perpetually behind the camera, it's impossible, outside of a very contrived and immersion-breaking sequence, to get to know that very important character. Paranormal activity solved that by having the camera on a tripod for most of the movie. Troll Hunter attempts to solve it, with some success, by focusing on one character in particular.
The "bear poacher," Hans, turns out to be Norway's only Troll Hunter. Yes, real trolls that live under bridges, sometimes have multiple heads, and turn to stone in sunlight. Hans uses this latter attribute to his benefit as a hunter, packing huge UV-firing light-weapons. The Troll Hunter works for the Troll Security Service (TSS), which rounds up Trolls and prevents them from doing harm to human civilization. The higher-ups at the TSS are obviously perturbed by the documentary crew following their lonesome agent.
The character of Hans is what makes the movie work. Without him, the movie is so much running through dark woods, punctuated by scenes of trolls being taken out. Those troll-fighting scenes are epic, don't get me wrong, but even those marvelous and well done CGI action scenes pale in comparison to the scenes of Hans describing to the crew just what trolls are and how they live. Simply put, his understated and often sad portrayal contrasted with the wonderful and preposterous things he is saying makes this movie hilarious. In this way, Troll Hunter manages to combine the monster movie genre with comedy, and it does so with great success.
As the movie progresses, so do the stakes. The trolls grow larger, the danger grows more imminent, and the TSS grows more suspicious of the crew. It doesn't provide many surprises, but it does deliver on its promise 100 percent. But, really, how many surprises can the found-footage genre bring when its very concept makes the ending a foregone conclusion?
Troll Hunter is a great flick for monster and comedy buffs alike. That is, if you can get past (or if you happen to enjoy) the found-footage trappings and all that entails.