mnystedt Reviews

Wallander: Innan frosten (2005) Season 1, Episode 1

Pretty good, better than 5.3

[7/10 · 1 July 2005]

As I write this, the movie has a 5.3 out of 10 rating. I think it deserves better. I haven't read the book, but I've read some other Wallander books and seen some of the previous movies. Although I really like Lassgård as Wallander, Henriksson does a really good job and we should stay away from comparing them too much. They are different actors making their own interpretation of the role. Johanna Sällström does a good job as Wallander's daughter and there's a lot going on between them that I hope will get explored more in future movies. It's beautifully shot and generally speaking of pretty high production quality. Since they are doing 13 movies in pretty short time you could suspect it would come across as rushed and cheap, but I don't think that's the case with this one. Perhaps because it's the first and maybe it'll get worse as we go along. The supporting actors are of high caliber and do a good job. The story is a bit strange at times but they keep it together and going well and there's really no boring parts. So, in short, not the best Wallander-movie made, but I enjoyed it, and I think most other viewers will as well.

The Grudge (2004)

Pretty good...

[6/10 · 1 January 2005]

For the genre, I thought this was pretty good. And with good I mean it had its scary moments, when you jump out of your seat. It's not the best acting around, or the best of anything really, but if you're looking to get scared for an hour and a half, this is a good choice.

I think Gellar did a pretty good job in the lead, perhaps her Buffy experience made it easier for her. The plot needs some more explanations I think to be believable, but it works OK.

Small spoiler.... that little boy that starts appearing on the house when Gellar gets there is a scary little bugger :-)

Overall, pretty straight-forward scary-movie stuff, but effective and different enough to scare you, so it's worth a look.