Roar Uthaug's follow-up to his 2022 Netflix hit 'Troll' finds folkloric giants again roaming the Norwegian countryside, panicking and squashing the human populace. The sequel, which launched on December 1, reunites most of the original's major participants for another race to stop a second behemoth.
An opening animated sequence illustrates the purported origin of trolls and their extinction under a newly Christianized society. This turns out to be a bedtime story told by folklorist Tobias to his daughter Nora. Thirty years later, Nora, now played by Ine Marie Wilmann, is living in isolation, still mourning her father's death in the earlier film's events.
She is reluctantly drawn back into action when Andreas, a government functionary, seeks her expertise at a hydroelectric plant where a hibernating troll has been kept. Nora inadvertently awakens the giant, which quickly escapes and causes destruction. She reunites with other survivors from the first film to stop the rampage, discovering a second, 'good' troll to battle the angry one.
While 'Troll 2' is slick and fun, the inspiration is beginning to run thin. The Godzilla vs. King Kong-like climax isn't very thrilling, and there is some silliness involving important relics of Norwegian history. However, Uthaug sells the script's clichés with humour and smart pacing, and the performances remain amiable.
Returning composer Johannes Ringen's big orchestral score provides bombast suitable for any multiplex-ready popcorn epic. The appeal and limitation of these movies is that, despite their quirky concept, they are basically stock fantasy-action exercises akin to 'Jurassic Park', albeit with more snow.
