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Mar 02, 2016 By Julia Bembenek Issue # 56 - Best of 2015 - Father John Misty and Wolf Alice

Earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanic explosions, tidal waves, avalanches—any natural disaster’s got built-in drama. The spectacular brutality of nature offers a depoliticized space to play out the heartbreaking tragedy of lost lives and the triumph of the human spirit in the face of sudden, inexplicable chaos and destruction. In many ways, the disaster movie is the closest thing to mythology we have in the modern cultural scope.

Roar Uthaug’s The Wave centers around seismic geologist Kristian (Kristorffer Joner) and his struggle to save his family and his town from the collapse of a majestically unstable Norwegian mountain. Given the strong trend towards Scandinavian gothic these days, it’s natural to search for dark twists and turns; however, the search is fruitless here. Outside of a few clever set pieces, it’s all by-the-books. Our characters are exactly as they seem, doing exactly what we expect them to as the prescribed disastrous events unfold. The Wave doesn’t have much to offer artistically, but ultimately that’s fine. It’s got a great big wave destroying everything in its path and a guy who somehow manages to maintain his family unit in the face of the spectacular devastation. The film brings Thor’s hammer into 2015, succeeding within the scope of its genre.

www.magpictures.com

Author rating: 6/10