Firstly, you will notice the smashing similarity with "Cloverfield" (that first person camera thingie), but it's even better! The landscapes of Norway are indeed beautiful, but it's nothing new here... Norway is practically 40% woodland, 55% mountains and rocks, and the rest represents agricultural pastures. Buildings and infrastructure have a percentage below 1%. Now, the Trolls... I like this idea of "documentary", even if it's not real. In fact, everything is so well made that you actually believe it's plausible! I enjoy SF documentaries such as "The future is wild" or "Alien Planet"; you know that everything is just supposition, but scientifically explained and logic-based, so you take it as it could be real! The idea of taking a mythical creature and put it in the natural world is brilliant! The Troll concepts in this movie, are pretty weird... They seem to be caricatured, with an almost cartoon-ish physiognomy (especially their large proboscis); but they're so incredibly well animated! They look so organic, with great textures and realistic movements; the way they react, move, their behavior, and the sounds they are emitting, makes them quite menacing, shocking and intimidating. But there's also the humor factor... there are many funny scenes in the movie. As the movie progresses, you find information about those creatures. The government somehow managed to hide them from the general public, and it looks like they have always existed there. I like that they are described as being a species in its natural habitat. Nothing magical about it, just incredible creatures. They are also classified in different subspecies... yep, no cryptozoology bullshit, no pseudoscience crap... everything is scientifically explained and it's weird that the story makes you believe it. There are even explanations about how some chemical reactions in their body make them explode or turn them from organic form to complete mineralization. Well, except the part where they smell the blood of Christians... uh-oh! There's also something magical happening in there! We should preserve those wonderful creatures... they should have a conservation status even... maybe they're endangered! But let's not forget that Trolls are... St00p1d, and that's actually a wonderful thing about them! The movie contains some intense footage, it's breath-taking, it even has horror moments, many funny scenes and dialogues and a bit of drama. An unique experience!

In 2008, the filmmakers receive mysterious anonymous film material. In it, university students Thomas, Johanna and Kalle travel to document bear poaching. There have been strange incidents going on. Norwegian Wildlife Board head Finn Haugen dismisses the mystery. The group follows suspected hunter Hans and he confesses to be a part of a government conspiracy to hide the existence of trolls.The obvious comparison is 'The Blair Witch Project' with the faux found footage documentary. The main difference is that some people actually thought Blair Witch was real. It's still fun to have the real element and the CGI troll. The second half is too unreal with the unbelievable government conspiracy. It also becomes a bit boring as the story meanders. This has some good elements and a watchable first half.

This film was amazingly done. The story, the acting, the CGI, everything. Even if you do not like foreign films or are turned off by having to read the subtitles, the beauty of the Norwegian landscape is worth every minute. I do not know much about Norwegian culture, but troll lore I know seems to be done very well. The story is fantastic, and I can relate to government cover ups. Here in the Midwest our department of natural resources tries to convince people Cougars do not exist, although they were caught reintroducing them years ago, and hundreds of trail cam pictures. The CGI work of the trolls is fantastic, but in some ways kind of wished the trolls to be smarter and more social. If you like fantasy films, definitely watch this film!

When this movie came out, I gave it a 9. That was years ago, and I thought that the whole event around the premiere might have clouded my judgment, so I just re-watched it. And I'm going to stick with my 9. It is not a movie for everybody. I have no idea if it's good for people who are not from Norway. But as a Norwegian, this movie captures the spirit of the country, all the way from the administrative level to the personal level. The visuals are great, both how it shows of the Norwegian nature, and how the trolls are Werenskiold's and Kittelsen's creatures come to life. The "scientific" explanations are also quite clever. Especially regarding the multiple heads of some trolls.I know that I might not be critical enough of this movie. The fart joke was cheap, and I'm sure some of the acting is worthy of critique. But for some reason it just resonates with me.