The Wave (AKA Bolgen in its native Norway) opens with news stock footage of previous mountain slides in Geiranger, a town in Norway. Tsunamis have resulted in several deaths in the past and the area is closely monitored by geologists.
From the very beginning, The Wave tells us that it will take a more realistic take on the disaster film. For the most part, it succeeds in rising above the typical disaster film fluff. It even turns some of the genre’s cliches on their head. There are some great performances from the leads, outstanding special effects and great camera work.
Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, there’s a big but coming.
The film does end up using a few tropes that drag the film down into cliche. An unnecessarily overdramatic ending and poor character decisions end up ruining what could have been an absolutely amazing disaster film.
The Wave centers around geologist Kristian (Kristoffer Joner) and his family as Geiranger is struck by a three hundred foot tsunami. In general, the film takes a lot of the disaster genre’s tropes and plays with them in interesting ways. No matter how prepared people are, the disaster is still devastating. So you think that one character’s dumb move meant they missed a chance to save themselves? The Wave takes that idea and completely throws it out: That dumb move actually saves that character. More on this character later…
But the real strength of the film is the family at the center of the disaster. They are happy, which may not seem like a big deal, but think about the last few disaster movies you’ve seen. San Andreas, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012…all of them had families in crisis. Divorce, resentful kids, and jerk-off significant others are just some examples of the things these poor people had to deal with in addition to the natural disasters. Because that apparently isn’t enough drama. The family’s only drama in The Wave is simply survival.
Joner is a stand out as the film’s lead. His character careens from charmingly nerdy to doggedly obsessed to determined hero in a completely convincing way. Hollywood might have made Kristoffer into a twitchy, over the top Johnny Depp wannabe. Ane Dohl Torp is equally outstanding as Kristoffer’s wife Idun. Tough and utterly dedicated to her family, she makes a good match with Kristoffer’s more laid back demeanor. They fight, but it’s never an over the top “You never loved me!” sort of thing. An argument is simply an argument here.
The Wave’s visual style is a nice departure from the typical disaster film as well. It tries to tell you its story visually as often as possible, with geologist Kristoffer only having one exposition scene. Before that, his revelation about the disaster is shown visually. This film does not insult us, it lets us figure things out along with Kristoffer.
The special effects depicting both the massive mountain slide and the resulting three hundred foot tsunami are done so well they are truly frightening. We also don’t see But it never becomes a CGI fest either, relying on practical sets and actual locations for the majority of the time.
The film also makes the most out of its location. The town of Greiranger goes from an idealistically beautiful mountain range to a darkly ominous ruin in the course of a day. Director Roar Uthaug contrasts the beauty nature can give with the complete and utter destruction nature’s rage can inflict. If you start the film, fast forward to the halfway point, you might think you’re watching a different movie. The transformation is that jarring.
In the end, The Wave literally begins to falter. The third act becomes overwrought with unnecessary drama. First, let’s bring back that character who made the dumb move mentioned earlier. I won’t reveal that character’s identity for spoilers sake, but I have to address it.
While that dumb move the character didn’t cost them, that character continues to do dumb things. Once again, even this well made disaster film can’t escape that tried and true trope: Characters doing dumb things to create drama. I can’t give The Wave complete credit for avoiding this cliche when it utilizes it later. It’s maddening, especially since it’s completely unnecessary in this film.
There are also two characters added in later that have no purpose but to be cannon fodder. Both act foolishly and their motivations are muddled. And again, they were unnecessary. And there’s a rip off of a scene from The Abyss! Don’t worry, you’ll know it when you see it.
While I have many issues with the third act of The Wave, it is still a solid film. It’s a nice edge of your seat experience and should be a must see for any fan of the disaster genre.
Score: 6.5 out of 10