rolf-115 Reviews

Arn: The Knight Templar (2007)

Worthwhile

[6/10 · 15 August 2008]

I read the books. I saw the movie. I was not impressed but I had to see it through.

I heard this movie had the largest budget ever in Swedish cinema. This means little, and I had low expectations. They were pretty much fulfilled. Same old, same old. The script is fairly faithful to the books, but lack cinematic power. It could just as well have been a teve series.

The actor Arn himself is actually a good choice but still a terrible one. He is unknown and untainted but it also makes him extremely uninteresting. Hopefully we are used to him in the next part and start to care. He does a good job since he isn't very pretentious. I am sick as hell of the Swedish pretentious actor corps.

The only other comment I have on other characters is about Stellan Skarsgards. He overplays compared to the other actors in the movie. I honestly don't know if it is he or they should change.

Overall it leaves me with a feeling of two almost-wasted hours that I have to sit out while waiting for the sequel.

Mind the Gap (2007)

Semi-bad

[4/10 · 15 August 2008]

The movie seems sponsored by the Swedish police. It is not a comedy at all. I laughed maybe 0 times out of 2 attempts to a joke. That it is advertised as a comedy is a joke in itself.

I think that the actors and the script is okay. I felt that I had to watch the movie until the end. It is worthwhile to discuss in a cultural or political context since it is incredibly politically correct. Almost textbook-like as the females and immigrants become accepted in the police force just as one would suspect the dream situation for the Swedish government is. I usually don't mind but this is too blatant. It reeks of massproduction even though I do hope that the director disagrees.