The Third Wave (2003)

Johan Falk hasn't been working for over a year since he resigned from the police. Most of all he wants to move out to the countryside, but fate has a different thought.

Director:

Anders Nilsson

Writers:

Anders Nilsson, Joakim Hansson

Stars:

Jakob Eklund, Irina Björklund, Nicholas Farrell

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jakob Eklund	...	Johan Falk
Irina Björklund	...	Rebecca
Nicholas Farrell	...	Devlin
Ben Pullen	...	Kane
Marie Richardson	...	Helén
Sylvester Groth	...	Dauphin
Lennart Hjulström	...	Sellberg
John Benfield	...	Stevens
Robert Giggenbach	...	Sorensen
Pierre Deny	...	Leblanc
Emmanuel Limal	...	Rocca
Hanna Alsterlund	...	Nina
Jacqueline Ramel	...	Anja (as Jaqueline Ramel)
Joram Voelklein	...	Van Nuys
Joep Sertons	...	Van Effen

Storyline

In The Hague, Holland, the new chief of Europol Sellberg broadcasts a tough speech against the third wave of crimes in Europe, promising to suffocate the schemes of powerful criminals. He invites his former detective and friend Johan Falk for a meeting, with the intention to join him to his team. Meanwhile, the executive Rebecca accidentally opens one correspondence of her mate, Kane, and finds that he launders illegal money for European mobsters. When she decides to disclose her discoveries to Europol, her life is jeopardized by the associates of her boy-friend, but Rebecca is rescued by Johan, and they have to fight against the organized crime to save their lives and Johan's family.

---

Plot Keywords:

organized crime | third part | sequel | third in trilogy | part of series | 

---

Taglines:

En hel kontinent håller på att stjälas. An entire continent is being stolen

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Sweden Finland

Language:

Swedish English German French Dutch

Release Date:

15 October 2003 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Third Wave

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

SEK 34,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sonet Film, Film i Väst, The Chimney Pot

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several entire blocks were constructed in Trollhättan to simulate locations of Munich and the Hague.

---

Goofs

When Rebecca is sitting on the ferry to Hoek van Holland, the green screen used for the window is reflected in the shiny table.

---

Quotes

Bodice: [Radio] We need a fucking hospital here!
Devlin: [Radio] Roger. And can we please use the proper procedure of language, over.
Bodice: [Radio] Fucking roger, out!

---

Crazy Credits

"Dock INGET TACK till polisledningen i Göteborg som för tredje gången vägrat lyfta ett finger för att hjälpa oss. Tur att polishuset i Göteborg i övrigt är fyllt med samarbetsvilliga poliser..." Which translates roughly to: "But NO THANKS go to the police-management in Göteborg as they, for the third time, have been unwilling to lift a finger to help us. Lucky for us the police-houses of Göteborg are filled with cooperative officers..."

---

Connections

Followed by Johan Falk: Vapenbröder (2009)

User Reviews

The bar has been raised

Swedish action movies. Taste those words put together like that. It just doesn't taste right. Or, at least that is what i used to think. Anders Nilsson has forced me to at least in part reconsider my stance on Swedish action movies with his trilogy about the hard-case Johan Falk.

Usually the problem with Swedish action-movies consist of three things: (1) Hollywood complex. It seems that most Swedish directors have seen too many Hollywood action-movies without realizing that they need a budget to emulate that style. (2) The budget. Closely linked to the first point. Swedish movies simply don't have the budget for full-fledged action-scenes. (3) Stefan Sauk. I don't know HOW the man does it, but it seems he uses some kind of supernatural power to force EVERY director in Sweden to cast him in their action movies. Except for Anders Nilsson who stays away from Sauk mercifully enough.

Readers might already be acquainted with Anders Nilssons film-making from the first two installments in this trilogy. I can start off by saying that this movie is far superior to both the previous films. The technical quality, the acting and the action are all much more refined. This is without a doubt the best action movie to come out of Sweden for a very long time. Perhaps the best ever?

So what makes this such a great movie? Well first of all it seems Anders Nilsson manages to keep his Hollywood-complex in check. It seems he knows that he can't have two hours of intense action so instead he goes for a better approach. The action scenes are few and far between, but well made when they DO happen. Also he doesn't hesitate to use foreign actors which feels like something more Swedish directors should do. It adds substantially to the realism of the movie. Last but not least the script feels properly worked through. Many times scripts for Swedish movies feel unfinished and filled with strange plot-holes and nonsensical twists. This is at least one step up in quality from most others.

In the end this finally feels like a Swedish action movie that people outside of Sweden can actually enjoy. That the budget is still well below 5 million USD shows of course, but the money is used wisely and this is an enjoyable experience. Hopefully other Swedish directors now understand that the bar has been raised. I rate this 6/10.