The Wave

What does it take to make a good disaster movie? Good F/X?, Complex storyline?, intricate scenes?, massive destruction?... nothing of the sort.

Good buildup and nice character development, that's it.

That's what this movie is all about. A simple story, yet, very powerful in the way it was made.

From the first 10 minutes you'll get the point, this is gonna be a movie focused on our characters, this are people living a simple life, yet, full of good intentions and surrounded by good company in a small town with an incredible scenery and this is gonna be a movie about them, having to deal with a disaster none expects. The disaster it's there as a test to their resolve, not as the main attraction of the movie, be aware of that before watching it.

The story unfolds at slow pace but with impeccable character development and directing, to match this we have a superb soundtrack that it's not excessive nor subtle and always, to the point.

Our main hero is very lovable and yet, honest and simple. If you're expecting a super-hero like San Andreas, you'll be sorely disappointed, yet, if you think what would you do if a massive wave hits your town, you will feel identified with our main lead here.

I love disaster movies and this is one of them, It never lost my interest. The movie ends as it starts, simple and yet, highly enjoyable due to being superbly directed through and through.

If you're fond of disaster movies which puts their characters in the first place, without super excessive heroic scenes and a believable script, you must see this one, you'll be surprised.

This IS the anti-Hollywood of disaster movies, thanks good for that!

Norwegian movies occasionally bring sleeper hit like the Troll Hunter, the wintry location is just perfect for things unknown. The Wave, while it may be strange to have on a mountain, is a good mix of visual cinematography, nice use of attractive vistas and simple yet engaging characters. The first act might feel a tad slow but the entirety is finely tuned compartmentalized sequences that fit together as good disaster movie.

The focus is mainly on a family of four on their last day in normally quaint city of Geiranger. Kritian (Kristoffer Joner) as the father is a geologist who admittedly too fixated on his job. Before they leave he spots some anomalies of the impending catastrophe. It's a predictable but still decent premise and while it starts rather slow, the time invested is used to familiarize audience with the characters and also the tourist attraction.

The Wave uses its setting very nicely, it capitalizes on the actual hotel and mountain, partially and understandably for promotional purpose. It's visually pleasing and involving scenery, better than most Hollywood attempts on the genre. For example, San Andreas doesn't feel as though viewer is engaged aside from excessive CG. This movie cleverly captures the essence of the place well.

It doesn't mean that there's a lack of special effect here, it's just used more appropriately. For those wanting a cool spectacle of force of nature, you won't be disappointed. Better yet, there are few scenes which really push the theatrical effect of human drama and graphical thriller so precisely, it's impressively daunting. Furthermore, audience would mostly likely relate to the family's ordeal more than investing on random calamity displays.

The Wave is a disaster movie done right, nearly every aspect of it come crashing down just at the right spot and time.

This movie came as a surprise to me. When it was first released it was praised by most of the Norwegian film critics as a very good film, some even went as far as calling it a masterpiece.

But this happens quite often with Norwegian films, our critics tend to give domestic films a higher score than usual. One critic in this case even admitted to have done so in her own review. She gave the movie 10/10 and called it a masterpiece "Seen with Norwegian eyes", but not that impressive seen with international eyes.

Now i hate this kind of criticism, i think that the nationality of the product. if it be music, film, games, painting or any other form of art, the criticism should be based on the end product as it stands. Though i also can understand that some get more emotional when they see their own language spoken in a film like this.

And by that i mean this. Norway does not make that many movies that has millions of dollars of special effects in them, that is rare. And here they spent over half the film budget on making the wave, which has like 2 minutes of screen time in total. And yes it does look quite impressive, i have to say.

I know a few people that has worked on making this wave and i remember i told them, that this is the one thing they cannot fail. If the wave does not look impressive, they can just give up and go home. Now i don't think my words had any impact on the production of the wave, just to clear that up :).

Anyways i did not know much about the story, only the obvious things. So i went into seeing this film with an open mind.

And here comes what is the best thing about this film. The buildup. Oh boy is this film impressively built up to the climax, oh yes it is. Actually there has been years since i have seen such a perfectly orchestrated start of a film. It spends just enough time with the lead actors and actresses to spark an interest in them, and then avoids it becoming boring and unnecessary, and also to finally show what this film is all about.

Then the climax itself is done very well. Actually i was very impressed indeed when the mountain burst and went into the water. Up till this point i almost could not believe what i saw, i was actually looking at something extraordinary. And that, felt really good. But, then comes the aftermath.

Now I'm not going to spoil anything here, but i will say this. The movie slowly gets weaker and weaker the closer to end we approach. The acting is above decent at all times, but the storytelling plummets in the last 30 minutes or so. They just have to add something to the film, and what they add is the most predictable of all things, family in danger.

And then on top of that they just borrow scenes from other movies, like the abyss, and portray them almost identical to the original scenes from those other movies. That is a shame. I wished they had spent some extra time coming up with something original. So the movie had something to deliver after the wave.

But sadly it does not. Had i stopped watching this film 25 minutes before the end, the movie would have felt like a 9/10. Impressive indeed. But the ending, as cliché as it is, does not par with the rest of the film, and thus brings the whole experience down.

To wrap it up i got to say, I'm going to watch the beginning of this film until the climax, many many times over the next few years, that is where they nailed it, and where they showed us it's still hope for action films made in my country.

And Ane Dahl Torp is looking better and better the older she gets, which is even more impressive. And she does one of her best performances.

Kristoffer Joner also delivers a steady and really good performance.

Verdict: 7/10 - Quite good

First 50 minutes: 9/10 - Very good. (I just had to add that).

The science leading up to the mountain landslide and resulting tsunami, is far more interesting than the questionable survival techniques that follow. The beginning has breathtaking scenery and is almost all in daylight. Once the impressive c.g.i. tsunami is over, things shift into closeup images in almost total darkness, and the believability scale descends dramatically. I would say that the chances of an ending like we witness is many millions to one. Nowhere is the hypothermia factor even mentioned. Being submerged in what must be frigid fjord water for even a few minutes would most likely be fatal. "The Wave" is not a bad movie, it is just a film that stretches things a bit far. If you can look beyond that, then it is a movie worth watching. - MERK

Just caught this film in Austin during Fantastic Fest and had a blast. I've never seen a Norwegian movie before and I went in blind to this one.

The moderator introduced it as a "movie that would make Roland Emmerich cum his pants", and while it's not exactly on the same level as, say, Independence Day or 2012, the film is an absolute destructive experience that packs a punch. The premise, which is honestly quite simple, revolves around a geologist that begins to sense that something is awry when a mountain over a small town begins to give off strange activity in its movement. By the time he warns everybody, it's too late.

The film borrows from plenty of Hollywood clichés, but what it does well is build its suspense. Normally there would be a few action set pieces preceding the real climax, but this film takes its time to build the tension and it does so masterfully. There's an emotional connection to the lead and his family, and from the moment he senses that something is wrong, you want him and those that he loves to get out of town safely.

There's nothing new about the story or with the characters, but it's an impressive feat with dazzling cinematography and a pulsating score. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you're looking to be entertained.