Last year, a friend recommended I watch Trolls (2022) which is the initial sequel of this franchise. Then I was so optimistic about watching it but in the end, I was so impressed with the performance. It was a fantastic experience for me. Since then I have been watching out for the next sequel and any works from the producers and director of the movie. Now the wait is over, the second sequel is here and I am here to talk about it.
Before I move further, this franchise is based on folklore and it is the kind of movie I love to watch at any time. Folklore-inspired movies are always thrilling for me.
Trolls 2 (2025) is a Norwegian monster film directed by Roar Uthaug and written by Espen Aukan. It was distributed by Netflix and produced by Espen Horn and two others. It starred Ine Marie Wilmann, Kim S. Falck-Jørgensen, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, Sara Khorami, Jon Ketil Johnsen, Gard B. Eidsvold, Aksel Almaas and Trond Magnum.
Troll 2 was set three years after the first sequel where the main character Nora Tidemann encountered the Troll King. At first, we were given a glimpse of Nora’s past. How she got to know about the trolls in the first place. We were made to understand that Nora got to know about the trolls from all the folklore stories her father told her as bedtime stories. Thirty years later, Nora discovered that those stories were not just tales, they were historical facts.
After Nora’s encounter with the troll king, she resigned from work which entails studying trolls for the Norwegian government and went to live off the grid in a remote cabin. However, the Norwegian government was not done with her yet. Andreas Isaksen, a government official, visited Nora in her remote cabin. His intention was to convince her to help him with a new discovery in Vemork, where a top-secret underground research facility is located and maintained by Marion Rhadani, a scientist.
Reuniting with Professor Møller and Professor Wange, Nora got to discover that the research facility houses a hibernating troll with a code name ”Jotun”. Amazed, suspicious about everything she saw in the facility she sneaked to Jotun hums a song from her father's folklore tales and all of a sudden Jotun woke up from his hibernation. Discovering he was chained down like a rabid dog, he becomes violent, breaks free, destroys the facility and kills some people while he gains his freedom. What will happen now that ”Jotun” is out of hibernation? How old is ”Jotun”?
My Review And Rating.
I will be reviewing this movie by comparing this sequel and the last one. First of all, this movie reminds me of the Jurassic Park franchise and Hong Kong. It is a movie that has excellently portrayed this vibe.
The last installment was WAY better than this one. Although, the last had some few negatives that made it not to be too impressive but it was still better compared to this recent installment.
Let's talk about the plot / storyline. The writing of the first installment was well written but not impressive. It was written in a way that the curiosity of the viewers was sustained all through the movie from the beginning to the ending. All the characters were averagely built well. The monster troll design was good, what drives the troll monster was solid, the history, action, and mystery were well blended. The world was fantastic!
However, the second sequel writing was more of like a comedy or mockery of the initial installment. It was weak, character building was terrible and not relatable. It was packed with a lot of scenes that were ridiculous and not realistic. The first sequel had more substance to its storyline, but in this sequel, cinematography was prioritised than the plot.
There are some things that pissed me off about this second sequel was the fact that the main character, Nora, was the one who caused the death of so many people in the movie. Nora went to hum to the troll in hopes of connecting with it but ”Jotun” was activated. For what purpose? None! I see that as terrible writing. Then, we have the scientist who is crushing on Major Kristoffer who doesn't answer to anyone. It was realistic! I feel that the writer should have been more innovative then this sequel would have been a deserving one.
Some of the things I liked and enjoyed about this sequel is the blend of the history of the Trolls, the mystery intertwined with the motive of ”Jotun troll” and the discovery of how trolls can be killed. Also, the CGI was very good and much better than the first installment. The action scenes and flight chase scenes were well shot.
Rating this movie, I will give it 6 out 10 stars. I wish the writer took his time to come up with a very solid storyline. This sequel would have made up for the negatives of the initial installment. If you love Hong Kong movies and the Jurassic franchise, then you can try to see this movie. It is not a blockbuster but it's averagely good except for the bad writing.
All images above are from the movie screenshots
Thank you for visiting and supporting my blog 🤗