trorvik Reviews

Eternals (2021)

Much better than expected

[8/10 · 30 July 2022]

I saw every movie from Marvel up until Endgame. Phase iv has not tempted me much so far. This one was the only one except for the new Spiderman and Dr. Strange movies I have considered. But all the bad reviews nearly put me off ever viewing it. So I went in with moderate expectations. And I am really shocked how much i disagree with most of the reviews. I think this is one of the better Marvel movies. Not the best, but among the best third of them.

The scenery and cinematography is the most stunning in any marvel movies. It has an overall more adult and serious tone than most Marvel movies, but still has enough humor to not become too dark and moody. And for once there is actually something at stake and real twists that you did not see coming. Not every hero is alive by the end.

The plot is more intelligent than usual with some real though provoking elements and not everything is black and white. A bit like the Captain America movies.

Casting is much better than expected. From the trailers I got the impression that the casting was done purely to have as muh variety as possible. But when you watch the movie it comes off as quite natural and neccessary since the cast is big with lot of new heroes introduced fast. And all the actors do a great job breathing life into their characters.

Some reviews complain about it being hard to follow and too much because not everything is told linear. But seriously.... I am not a huge fan of non-linear storytelling myself. But if this movie is too demanding for you then you have an attention-problem. Most of the movie happens in the present and is told linear with a few quick neccessary flashbacks. Nothing advanced.

I just dont get why people dont like this. Nice characters, plently of great action that is directed very well so you know what is going on , fantastic effects, story among the better marvel efforts, best ever cinematography. I suspect that most of the bad reviews come from people that that hate it just because there is one gay character in it and a shory gay kiss that lasts 2 seconds. Seriously? What is the problem? Props to Disney for "daring" to do this although it can hardly be seen as controversial in 2022.

The Innocent (2021)

As close to perfect as they get

[10/10 · 12 December 2021]

It is not often that i give a movie or series a 10 out of 10, but this is one of the few exceptions where everything alligns pefectly.

This is another one based on a harlan coben novel. All of the adaptations except one of them ranges from good to great. This is the very best of them.

Dont get put off by this one being adapted in spanish. Give it a chance and you will find that all technical and artistical aspects are much nicer than the british adaptations. Looks very expensive and international. Also great casting which makes it easy to find someone to root for. It looks and feels great all the way through. Also skip the trailer. The series is much much better and different from the impression left by the trailer.

But the main star is the plot which like any Coban-novel twists and turns all the way to the very end. It never drags or wastes time on subplots that have no purpose or characters soul searching or drug problems. It is much more conserned with creating tension and telling you a great story. And the director makes sure it is a thrill-ride from beginning to the very. There is always something going on that will keep you guessing and keep you nailed to your sofa.

I am not a big fan of stories told through flash-backs or stories where each episode is told through a different character. This one also uses these techiniques to a certain degreee. The first episode of this series is great. The second episode is the weakest because of using such a plot device and make you feel you start from scratch again. The second episode almost made me remove one star from my review. But just when you think the whole series will collapse into overdoing such story-devices at the start of episode 3 it kicks itself in the but and from then on just amps up the tension more and more until the very end.

Give it a chance. You will not be sorry you did.

Roslund & Hellström: Box 21 (2020)

Very underrated intense thriller

[9/10 · 6 December 2020]

After watching the trailer and reading reviews I was very skeptical at watching this series. So I just put it on my long waiting list of potential series to watch for a long time. But today I needed something without too many episodes to be able to binge the whole thing in just one night. I also felt like watching a scandinavian crime serie. And since I have seen most scandinavian series there was not that many series that fitted all criterias that I havent already seen so I decided to give it a shot, very prepared to exit if I didnt like it.

And I am very glad I did. I think this is surprisingly one of the better series in this genre. It is not a masterpiece like "The bridge" or "Before we die". But it is a very good and intense thriller with characters that you care for. All technical aspects are great and very cinematic, and the casting is very good. And it has a great story with some twists that you might not see coming even if you think you have figured it all out. And as a bonus you might also learn something about some social and criminal issues.

I cant understand where all the reviews that rates it below average come from. Please ignore those and give it a try. My best guess would be that some of those reviews come from people who can't deal with the series taking twists and turns that you would not see in many american series that are sanitized to death to not upset anyone. Sometimes those twists mean that the story does not end very happy for everyone in the story. But the very fact that its unpredictable make it much more thrilling cause you are never sure of what its capable of doing. So give it a go. If you like scandinavian or european crime series I am pretty sure you will like this.

Case (2015– )

If you are in doubt about watching this then dont

[4/10 · 5 April 2020]

I have watched almost every single scandinavian crime series done in the last 6-7 years. Many of them are really great and some are acceptable. But among all of them I would rate this at the very bottom. So watch it only if you find absolutely no other alternatives in the genre. While most modern scandinavian series looks like they came right from the cinema with great cinematography this whole thing looks kind of cheap. And the whole thing feels a bit cheap too. There is something very odd and very off with the whole pacing. The plot is nothing special, it has few surprises, and it is hard to care for or root for any of the characters. The whole thing drags along in a very slow tempe. Which I usually dont mind that much if it builds up to something great. But this doesnt. Instead it makes you watch it spend at least half its running time watching drug addicts and a alcoholic whine, cry and being drunk/drugged down. And you dont really care what happens to them. Too little time is spent on the crime-aspect of this crimes-seires. This is the only scandinavian series I am sorry I didnt give up right away instead of suffering with it all the way through. After binge-watching this last weekend I was unsure if I wanted to watch anything at all this weekend. But thankfully I gave "Kalifat" a chance and that one is everything this is not. And it gave me my faith back in scandinavian crime-series.

Caliphate (2020)

One of the very best thriller-series ever

[9/10 · 5 April 2020]

If I could i would rate this a 9 1/2. I was skeptical after watching the trailer, was to unsure if I could relate to the people and plot in it. And the whole thing looked really bleak, cheap and unappealing in the trailer and publicity shots. But I really like scandinavian crime/thriller-series and there is not much left to see in the genre at the moment since I have watched almost all of them. And I am happy I gave it a chance. This is along with "Innan vi dör" season 1 and 2 the best series made in recent times if you like the crime/thriller-genre. It gets right to the point and unlike most other series in this genre does not waste any time forcing you to watch hours of some police whine about their boose/drug-problem to extend the run of a series. Instead it keeps the plot running at a good pace all the way from the beginning and just increases the tension more and more until you can hardly take any more thrills. At the same time it somehow makes you care deeply for many of the people in the story without slowing the whole thing down. Not surprisingly it is written by the same people who wrote "Innan vi dör". If you have watched and liked that series I can promise you that this (and "Broen") is the closest you will get to a similar experience. And if you just like thrillers in general you cant really go wrong with this one.