Den tredje vågen (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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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..."

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Connections

Followed by Johan Falk: De fredlösa (2009)

User Reviews

Pretty classy

Sweden has a literary tradition of very high-quality political crime and action thrillers, starring heroes like Martin Beck, Carl Hamilton - and Johan Falk. All of them have been turned into movies, and the latest trilogy with Johan Falk - Noll Tolerans, Livvakterna and Den Tredje Vågen - continues the honor roll. These are very well-produced and exciting action movies; certainly impressive by any Scandinavian standard.

They are not perfect, though. Good as they are, they are marred by formulaic elements, like extremely evil bad guys who always threaten to beat and/or kill women, which is "the easy way" for a writer to show how evil the bad guys are. As a result, the realism suffers. The third movie in particular also gets unrealistic in the dramatic finale, with Helén (Falk's girlfriend, mostly an innocent bystander) suddenly turning into an expert pickpocket and "undercover operative". The massive riots in Munich were also a bit over the top, I thought, and not really necessary for the story, except to allow the writer to avoid having Falk do all the dirty work of disposing of the bad guys.

But even so, these movies are highly entertaining and well worth watching. The movies get progressively better, building excitement as they go. The independent security force in Livvakterna was very cool, and the international action in Den Tredje Vågen, with Nicholas Farrell's well-acted character switching sides because he's all integrity, was very satisfying.

7 out of 10.