El muñeco de nieve

I can't deny that I had high hopes for this film and it disappointed me on many levels, but I do think some of the previous reviews are exaggerating just how bad 'The Snowman' is. The film is messy, even puzzling at times, and very frustrating to watch. It lacks focus and struggles to find its feet early on. It also contains some baffling individual scenes that contribute nothing to the plot or film as a whole.

It improves as it goes along though and, contrary to what a lot of others have said, I thought the ending was relatively well done. The film is more of a mystery than a horror and it did keep me interested and guessing until the end... though I'm sure the stunning Scandinavian scenery did the film a lot of favours in terms of watchability.

'The Snowman' is disappointing, but it does have some pluses and is not as bad as some are making it out to be.

The original material the film is based on, "The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo, is a gripping thriller brilliantly composed with complex characters. However, this film adaption lacks everything. Frankly, there is very little left of the original story. The scriptwriters not only tampered with the plot, but altered characters as well. It is an entirely different story that is badly constructed with gaping holes in the plot.

Without having read the book, I'd imagine it would be slightly better with decent performances from the actors. Shame that had such an awful script to work with.

Really wanted to like this because the book is so good. Had to watch the first 20 minutes 3 times. Got to the minute 49 the third time then turned it off in disgust. Incomprehensible garbage. Author should sue.

Aside from apparently everybody in Norway speaking only English with an English dialect (good for old school filmmaking, but we're all smarter than that), it was a really enjoyable afternoon movie. Would love to have seen it on the big screen, it just had that feeling to it!! There were some shortcomings in the film, some of them were distracting, others permissible. I expected a little more, but overall recommend it on a cold, rainy day!

The snowy white landscapes of Oslo seemed like the perfect setting for chilling crime thriller The Snowman, a film based on Jo Nesbø's novel of the same name. The trailers promised so much and with a lead actor like Michael Fassbender on board, it had the potential to be one of the most intense films of the year.

When Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) is called to investigate a string of murders where the killer leaves snowmen as a calling card, he must delve into past cases to make a connection before the killer strikes again.

For a crime thriller to work, it must grip the audience right through to the end. The first half of The Snowman had my full attention, unsure of where the story was going to go or what would be revealed however, as the film drew on and revelations were made, it utterly lost me due to how lazy it became. They storytelling that felt so strong in the first half was totally absent in the second, none of the revelations as impactful as they should have been and the ending coming so abruptly. I hate the fact the film didn't seem to wrap up this story properly before closing with such a sequel baiting final scene.

As with Tomas Alfredson's previous films, the pacing is pretty slow however, unlike Let the Right One In and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the consistence in quality isn't maintained throughout. Half an hour before the end I was ready for it to finish. Such a shame because this had such potential to be such a creepy thriller, instead the snowmen left as calling cards coming across as more comical than anything.

Coming to the performances, The Snowman isn't exactly let down at all. It's just they feel a little uninspired considering some of the actors working in the film. Michael Fassbender is one of the best actors working today but even if he looks as if he's given up on the film towards the end. I'm still waiting for a Fassbender performance as good as Steve Jobs, and that was two years ago now. While I don't think anyone gave a bad performance, the likes of Rebecca Ferguson, Val Kilmer, Toby Jones and J. K. Simmons were left a little too underused for my liking.

A film of two halves for me, starting so promisingly before fizzling out to such an unsatisfying finale, The Snowman is rather annoyingly one of the biggest disappointments of the year.