Sorjonen: Muraalimurhat

,this is utterly preposterous. Did they honestly believe they could lift the Lecter/Buffalo Bill storyline and supplant it ( poorly ) in Finland ? Police procedures right of the window, a serial killer uncuffed in a school hall. Poor outing this one and it's quite obvious that the budget has gone, hence the reason there would no series 4. Disappointed.

As much as I loved Bordertown in the form of TV series (all 3 seasons), the movie didn't do much for me. The script is trite, and even though there was an attempt to mimic the slow burning manner of the TV show, it was difficult to cram it into the 11 minutes... Nevertheless, 5 stars for another superb acting performance my Mr. Virtanen, a true master of his craft.

This film is a sequel to the series 'Bordertown'; if you have yet to watch the series the film will be hard to follow as no time is wasted introducing the various protagonists.

When a mural of convicted killer Lasse Maasalo and the words 'Let's Make the World a Better Place' are painted in blood the police contact Kari Sorjonen, the former detective who is undergoing treatment for psychiatric problems. After looking at the evidence he is convinced that Maasalo must have manipulated somebody else into committing the murder but he has conditions before he will talk to the authorities. Somebody has set up a website to identify the five people who would be least missed; the first victim was number one on the list; presumably the others will follow. Kari's former partner, Lena, is back in Finland and her daughter is number seven on the list.

Having enjoyed the series I watched this as soon as I saw it was on Netflix. I thought the film was effective but not as good as the series. It started well but most of the scenes featuring Maasalo, especially those where he spoke first to Sorjonen's daughter the Sorjonen himself, felt far too obviously inspired by Hannibal Lector. It was good to see all the usual characters again although one wonders just how often Lena's daughter Katia can get herself in trouble! The acting is solid; especially from Ville Virtanen, as Kari. The various settings are fairly impressive. Overall I'd definitely recommend to fans of the series wanting more... if you like the look of it but haven't yet seen the series, watch that first.

These comments are based on watching the film in Finnish with English subtitles.

Some good things happened in this follow up film, like Lena acting like a human being towards Katia and Janina not being an absolute weirdo. But a lot of nonsensical things that stretched the possible just to allow the plot to develop. Decent acting and storyline resolution.

Just as I finished the last episode of the third season of Bordertown, I saw that there was a new movie to keep things rolling. I was very pleased. While I was sad that Bordertown ended, as it was extremely good, with its twists and turns and great acting, Mural Murders was just a little quick to end for me! I loved it and did miss some of the regulars but my absolute favorite was there front and center! Ville Virtanen, is an amazing actor and I would love to see more Kari Sorjonen anytime in the near future! If you enjoyed the three seasons of Bordertown, you have to watch this movie!