You
might think after their experiences in The Wave, Kristian Eikfjord and his family would have moved someplace flat,
dry, and stable. Alas, they are still in the geological death trap that is
Norway, but post-survival stress has ruptured their family unit. Eikfjord the geologist
has become paranoid and anti-social, but that certainly does not mean he is
wrong about the big shake he predicts in John Andreas Andersen’s sequel, The Quake (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in Denver and San Francisco (where they know their earthquakes).
Eikfjord
was a hero in The Wave, but he still
has some serious PTSD to work through. His wife Idun Karlsen has been willing
to give him time and space, but he is pushing it. She is particularly annoyed
when Eikfjord cannot handle the scheduled visit from their eight-year-old-ish daughter,
Julia (we’re not particularly impressed either). He forces himself back to Oslo
to make it right, only to get sidetracked by the research papers of a recently
deceased colleague who was even more paranoid. Of course, his prophetic
warnings are only too accurate, but Eikfjord cannot convince his ultra-bureaucratic
former colleague to pay attention.
Seriously,
how many times can you look at ominous seismic charts and dismiss them as
vibrations from construction sites? What are they building there anyway,
mammoth particle accelerators? In downtown Oslo? You would think he would
eventually say, “okay, let me take another look at this,” but no, not until it
is too late.
That
is the main problem with The Quake.
Far too much time is devoted to Eikfjord howling in the wilderness and being a terrible
parent. Anderson and screenwriters John Kåre Raake & Harold Rosenløw-Eeg
keep their powder dry, saving the earthquake until the third act, but when it
comes, the cataclysm is pretty impressive. In the previous film, they often
teased viewers with potential dark tragedies, but always took the safe way out
at the last minute. Not to be spoilery, but they do not always opt for the
sentimental cop-out this time around.
Kristoffer
Joner was rather blandly likable (in an aptly Scandinavian way) portraying Eikfjord
in The Wave, but this time around, he
is such a miserably sullen jerk, viewers will want to hit him over the head with
a plywood plank to snap him out of it. As Karlsen, Ane Dahl Torp also seems
much less interested in him and the film this time around, but her character
has a right to be short on patience. On the other hand, Sondre, their now college-aged
son played by Jonas Hoff Oftebro, is more responsible, proactive and just
generally less annoying to spend time with, so at least one member of the
family is maturing.
In
the future, the Eikfjords have to figure out a way to avoid hotels during times
of natural disaster. Regardless, the big catastrophic centerpiece scene is definitely
memorable. Viewers who have not seen The
Wave will still be able to navigate The
Quake just fine. Frankly, the distributor is not marketing it as a sequel.
It is just a showcase for buildings getting all shook up. Worth seeing
(eventually) for its effects, but not so much for the drama, The Quake opens this Friday (12/14) at
the Mayan Theatre in Denver and the Opera Plaza in San Francisco.
