The Norwegian fjords. Stunning scenic wonderland, or brutal death trap?
The disaster film “The Wave” has it both ways. It doesn’t stint on the postcard photography of this beautiful part of the world, but it serves up plenty of computer-generated mayhem, too.
Our story begins with a newsreel reminder that in Norway’s past, the steep sides of the hills above those fjords have occasionally come crashing down into the water. This raises a sort of lake-sized tsunami.
Of course, the chances of such a rockfall occurring during the very last day on the job for a veteran geologist are minuscule. Uh, aren’t they?
Kristian (Christoffer Joner) doesn’t think so. A worrier by nature, he’s about to split for a comfortable job with an oil company in the big city.
But he can’t help noticing that the hillsides he’s been staring at for years are acting kind of funny. Which is why it’s probably a bad idea for him to spend one last night with his little daughter in the old family home at the side of the fjord, while his wife (Ane Dahl Torp) and their teenage son stay at a nearby hotel in town.
Director Roar Uthaug spends a good hour setting all this up, patiently waiting to unleash the disaster we’re pretty sure is going to happen. Despite all the build-up and the best efforts of some decent actors, the characters are standard.
But the wave is great. It splooshes convincingly across the fjord, 250 feet high and bent on destruction.
While this drama may be cheese-filled, Uthaug gets a couple of hair-raising suspense sequences going. The most nerve-wracking involves an underground storm shelter that — as luck would have it — turns out not to be completely watertight.
“The Wave” is a mostly technical exercise, proving once and for all that you can make a big, cornball disaster movie outside Hollywood. Even Hollywood is convinced: director Uthaug has been hired to helm the next “Tomb Raider” picture.
Beneath this lightweight conceit is a little fault line of worry that makes the movie click. What if you were living near a potential disaster-in-waiting? You know, the “Big One” that will someday rock Puget Sound, or the day Mount Rainier inevitably erupts again? Try to keep that out of your mind while you watch this far-fetched piece of hooey.
“The Wave” 2 1/2 stars
A disaster movie from Norway, which features stock characters and a spectacular wave. The action takes place near a fjord, where a rockfall can (and we’re pretty sure, will) trigger a deadly tsunami. In Norwegian, with English subtitles.
Rating: R, for violence
Showing: SIFF Cinema and Sundance Cinemas
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