By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Starring Sara Khorami, Mikkel Bratt Silset and Øyvind Brandtzæg
Directed by Pål Øie
Written by Vilde Eide, Kjersti Helen Rasmussen and Natasha Arthur
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Following the pair of TROLL epics that debuted on Netflix over the last few years, another huge beast from Norwegian legends has received a cinematic showcase. (In fact, it has gotten two; a Russian production from last year also called KRAKEN has yet to land Stateside distribution.) Previously co-opted on big screens by its Greek cousin in the CLASH OF THE TITANS films, the Kraken is back on home turf in this sumptuously produced but largely formulaic creature feature.
KRAKEN even casts TROLL 2 co-star Sarah Khorami as its protagonist, Johanne of the Institute of Marine Research. She’s dispatched to the town of Vangsnes on the Sognefjord, the deepest fjord in Norway, to investigate a fish farm run by the Western Salmon company. This outfit has been using a “sonic transducer” (paging Dr. Frank N. Furter) to eradicate lice afflicting the fjord’s salmon, but it has also been making them behave strangely. Turns out, Johanne once worked with the device’s creator, Erik (Mikkel Bratt Silset), before leaving the area years before, and there are hints the two were also romantically involved, though the script by Vilde Eide, Kjersti Helen Rasmussen and Natasha Arthur never really makes that clear. Meanwhile, Western Salmon head Jostein (Øyvind Brandtzæg) is wooing some visiting potential investors from Japan, his wife Henriette (Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes) is the local police chief and his daughter Maria (Jenny Evensen) has fallen in with a couple of environmentalists who want to shut Western Salmon down.
That’s a lot of human drama, and there’s more, which has the effect of crowding out the title monster. There’s an early scene in which the unseen Kraken (though an overhead shot eerily suggests its massive size) takes out a couple of jet-skiing tourists, whose bodies are eventually discovered. While checking them out and theorizing about the culprit, Johanne delivers the time-honored line, “The animal must be…big.” Another clue turns up in the form of a large, dead parasite, which inspires Johanne to intone, “The host must be enormous.”
Unfortunately, hearing about how imposing the monstrous threat must be isn’t as exciting or scary as actually seeing it, and it’s nearly an hour into this 90-minute film before it truly makes the scene. Up to that point, even the scenes hinting at its presence don’t play to their full potential; one involving some kayakers starts creepy and is then cut short, while another set in a restaurant with an underwater window is missing the money shot. Instead, KRAKEN is content to send its characters through motions similar to those of many past movies of the same species, with director Pål Øie (whose previous credits include the DARK WOODS duo and the disaster film THE TUNNEL) marshalling a production that’s more technically than dramatically impressive. Sjur Aarthun’s handsome cinematography makes the most of the picturesque locations, and the eventual visual effects bring the Kraken to convincing life.
Once the tentacled critter starts going after our heroes in earnest, there are 15 minutes or so of well-realized and occasionally thrilling action that elicits a genuine sense of no-escape. There isn’t too much suspense, however, because for the most part, it isn’t very surprising who dies and who survives. KRAKEN does have a fairly moving conclusion that could have sent viewers out with a more positive feeling toward the film—before moving on to a final shot that just reinforces how much of what they’ve seen has been the same old (big) thing.
