The Tunnel

After watching the recent, magnificent disaster movies Bølgen (2015) and Skjelvet (2018) I was expecting a lot more from this than what was given.

It is rather slow, has some poor dialogue and acting and does not attain the level of the previously mentioned disaster movies when it had the potential but too much was spent on character interaction and not enough on thrills and spills which is essential for a disaster movie!

Technically this is not badly done; lighting, pacing, acting, effects are all good value for the budget.

BUT honestly it feels like a movie put together by an AI... Take the formula for this sort of movie since at least the 70s (various disparate individuals in trouble, some family conflict, some stupid behavior, some heroic behavior) and just transplant it to Norway.

It's raised ever so slightly above the average by the scenes of how traffic control works from the inside, but there are far too few of these. I kept thinking of how someone like Aaron Sorensen (for all his predictability) could have made it so much better, with constant small speeches and explanations between the various characters saying things like "we do it this because in the fire at xyx in 2006 such and such and happened." It's adding in this background texture, not just plot but a feeling that you understand some of why the system works as it does, that makes a movie like this better than a thousand similar movies...

I stumbled upon the 2019 Norwegian movie "Tunnelen" (aka "The Tunnel") by sheer random luck here in 2020. And given the last couple of years impressive disaster movies that have come from the Norwegian cinema, of course I had to sit down and watch "Tunnelen" as well.

First of all, I was surprised to see Thorbjørn Harr in the lead, and I will say that he definitely carried the role and the movie quite well with his performance.

"Tunnelen" was entertaining, for sure, however it did suffer a bit from being rather predictable. And that was a shame, because it slightly held the movie back from achieving further greatness. But worry not, I am not saying that "Tunnelen" is a bad or boring movie, far from it. Actually, I found the movie to be entertaining and enjoyable - just a shame that you knew exactly how the storyline would pan out from the very beginning.

The movie takes place mostly in a smoke-filled tunnel, so you don't get to see much of the majestic landscapes of my ancestral home Norway. However, I will say that, while the movie took place mostly in a dark and smoke-filled environment, then the cinematography and camera-work was really good, and it felt like you were right there in the chaos alongside with the actors.

"Tunnelen" had a good cast to fill out the various roles and characters, and they definitely contributed well to the overall enjoyment of the movie.

I am rating "Tunnelen" a solid six out of ten stars. It is quite well-worth sitting down to watch, and I can warmly recommend this movie.

This film had promise with the beautiful snowy Norwegian landscapes and claustrophobic tunnel setting but unfortunately it's just incredibly dull. Looks like Daylight will continue to reign supreme in the niche tunnel-based disaster genre.

In any incident it is critical that there be a clearly established chain of command and that that chain be respected and followed. This movie glorifies the opposite - a bunch on individual first responders who act like cowboys, free-lancing and disregarding orders and protocols. As an occasional first responder myself, the more I watched it the angrier I got. The type of individual actions glorified in this film would, in any well-run emergency unit, result in immediate suspension if not termination - or at least I hope they would.