Storm

First of all the actors. Sasha Becker, who I have never seen before, does an excellent job. He holds the movie together nicely and goes through a variety of moods flawlessly. Now for the rest of the cast... Jonas Karlsson, an actor who I normally respect, is horribly cast for this movie and the role as the "bad guy". With or without a scar (hah) by his right eye. Eva Röse is not only poorly casted in her role but does a terrible job, overacting every single line she does.

Another major problem with this movie is that it tries to much. It's like they added comic-book / matrix / fight club / anime / computer game references and scenes in the end just to be the flavor of the month and it totally destroys this movie! If all of that was removed and the tempo was actually slower the movie would benefit greatly. I mean come on,.. jumping over laser scenes and random running with ninjas hunting you in the midst of a otherwise good movie. Granted, the script steals a hell of a lot of influences (ripping of?) from other movies (butterfly effect / hell raiser / matrix etc) but it's core is good. Sadly this is like watching 3 movies in one with only one being good and them pulling different ways and you almost feel like jamming a fork into your leg every time you see a scene that apparently "has to be there" with no intent but to show that the movie is hip.

Cudos has to go to the art department and the Cinematography guy in charge Linus Sandgren cause *that* work is totally flawless. I left with a bitter taste of what this movie could have been LIKE and what a waste of talent of the cinematography and lead actor it had been.

And also a wonderful beginning, a real quick start. It keeps you yearning and waiting for is about to come. Unfortunately the high adrenaline dries off quickly, but most certainly after half the movie is over.

And it's a shame, because this movie has really good ideas and explores many of them thoroughly. But that is also one of it's faults. By exploring too many things, it get's mixed up into to many things, so in the end you're too confused to follow any plot or characters. It's very dark and moody, but that doesn't help much, if it's also genre hopping just to try to fit any- and everything in it's story!

From the plot outline I read I was expecting one of those save the world sci-fi films but instead what to me this film seemed to be about was a sort of tug of war for by the angel and demons for the soul of DD. It seemed to me the character Lova was meant to be an angel sent to get DD to remember his sins, repent and become a better person where as "man in suit" (we never get his name and that is literally his credit) is the Devil, trying to keep DD in his sinful ways so that his soul will end up in Hell. I don't think anyone else got this impression but there were things in the film like when Lova says she is sensitive to fire, that made me think she was an angel and the other guy the devil.

But if you're reading this and thinking that sounds cheesy and lovey dovey (because lets face it the US versions of these types of movies are) then don't worry, it's dark and gritty and doesn't shy away form the hard stuff to a point where you question whether you should feel sorry for this character. And there's no Bible bashing (except for the scene where a Jesus of Latter Saints guy asks the Devil if he wants to be saved by Jesus). And though the ending might make some people think "but I want to know more" I found myself rather satisfied with the ending. Over all I liked this film, it was a refreshing, if not violent take on Angels vs Devil themed films.

Anyone who really dislikes Swedish movies should really see this movie, especially if you are from Sweden. It really stands out as one of those films that shows our potential. We can make other sorts of films than those that are corny, depicting of Swedish scenery and habits, police movies, and migration movies that deal with racism.

Bcos what you actually expect when you see a Swedish film is some sort of story about love and family and at least one penis shot. Storm really breaks your expectations without becoming a bad Hollywood alike-make of some tacky action movie - we make a lot of those also (e.g. livvakterna, tredje vågen).

Treat your self to something unexpected and non-typical Swedish. 7 out of 10 is on a international scale, 10/10 if it is compared to other Swedish films.

Don't get me wrong. This is an important film (for Sweden especially as it's so rare to see a Swedish sci-fi that actually lives up to it's title) and the visual style takes influences from a bunch of ground-braking classics; OldBoy, Fight Club, Se7en, The Terminator, 28 Days Later and many more (though these references feel more like homages rather than bad rip-offs and so it just goes to show that the film was made by people who really just like movies in general).

Anyway, on with the show. The film follows DD - a hip guy hanging with all the right people and living the trendy life of a Stockholm-journalist - who suddenly has his path crossed by Lova, who seems more like a superhero than an actual Swedish girl (and yeah, I know what Swedish girls look like in general). She disappears as fast as she arrived and DD goes home to his bachelor pad.

Later on she shows up at his door, giving him an address to visit if things start to go bad. And eventually, they do (of course). When trying to find Lova again he comes across a strange box and is forced to flee the scene of a shoot-out. Now, on the run from the cops, and also from the people originally chasing Lova, he must figure out the secret of the box and manage to open it before it's to late.

This was an interesting plot to say the least and I really enjoyed the work that these directors did in the past. Unfortunetely, the wonderful visual styles used here don't quite make up for the fact that the story ends up with too many loose ends.

It could have been a brilliant film but, in the end, the final answer to what's happened during this hour-and-a-half (or whatever) just leave a whirlwind of new questions stirred up in the backwaters of the credits.

Sorry guys, I really wanted this to work as something more than just eye-candy :(