Overview
Based on the fact that mountain party Åkneset, located in the Geiranger fjord in Norway, one day will race out and create a violent tsunami of over 80 meters that will crush everything in its path before it hits land in Geiranger. A geologist gets caught in the middle of it and a race against against time begins.
If you are in the mood for a popcorn disaster movie, The Wave will do the trick.
There are a couple unique elements to this movie. The first is that it is a Norwegian disaster movie rather than a Hollywood one, and the second is that the disaster at hand isn’t one that has been the subject of a movie before (I think). For the rest, it is -very- standard disaster movie fare – but well made and an easy watch.
Due to natural tectonic plate movement, certain mountains and fjords in Norway are, very slowly, contracting. At some point, this will lead to rock slides of various intensity and risk. The Åkerneset mountain is one such contracting mountain, which is why they have a permanent monitoring and warning centre in place. If a rock slide would occur, it would create an enormous tsunami-like wave down the fjord that would wipe out the village of Geiranger. Of course, this is exactly what happens…
The acting is pretty good with sufficient time spent on creating an interest in the main characters; the cinematography of the vistas of the fjords is gorgeous on the big screen, the score is not special but suitably supportive in building the tension, and the cgi is more than acceptable. The weakest bit is the script, especially after the disaster actually hits. While the set-up has some unique premises, the disaster unfolding becomes completely formulaic – including so many situations and decisions by individuals where you just need to be willing to suspend disbelief; e.g. in a town with tsunami evacuation procedures in place, would you really build the main hotel’s tsunami shelter in the basement…? Of course you would – just enjoy the popcorn!
A shame it doesn’t quite hold its tension till the end – there is actually more tension before the disaster strikes than after.
6/10 for the fun watch.