The Third Wave (2003)

Waste of time

From my favorite movies..

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

I bought "Third Wave" for 3 € and did not expect too much. But surprisingly this movie was really fun to watch!The start is a little to slow but after that the movie is fast and full of action. Of course one should not expect the sort of action scenes one can find in Casino Royale or any Hollywood blockbuster. But these realistic action scenes do add to the tension the movie creates. The many changes of location didn't seem to be in the movie just for the sake of it as it appears in many Hollywood action movies within the beginning.The acting wasn't over the top but the actors still did a good job. Maybe it just felt that way coz I watched the German dubbed version.The one thing I did not like that much was the ending. The final just takes a little too long and seems exaggerated - (Especially as I am German and I wonder what people will think of the situation in Munich after having seen this movie,haha!)All in all a very good movie though!

My summary says it all: I accidentally switched to that movie on TV and got intrigued by the sinister atmosphere and some compelling characters.However, the movie loses much of its drive, ambition and suspense in the chaotic and over-the-top showdown, where literally everybody gets randomly shot and a clear plot is not in sight anymore. In addition, the violent demos that serve as a welcome excuse for chaos never would happen that heavily in any Western European city - pure science-fiction. One of the weakest showdowns I have seen in a while, which is a shame for such a great beginning.

Swedish action movies. Taste those words put together like that. It just doesn't taste right. Or, at least that is what i used to think. Anders Nilsson has forced me to at least in part reconsider my stance on Swedish action movies with his trilogy about the hard-case Johan Falk.Usually the problem with Swedish action-movies consist of three things: (1) Hollywood complex. It seems that most Swedish directors have seen too many Hollywood action-movies without realizing that they need a budget to emulate that style. (2) The budget. Closely linked to the first point. Swedish movies simply don't have the budget for full-fledged action-scenes. (3) Stefan Sauk. I don't know HOW the man does it, but it seems he uses some kind of supernatural power to force EVERY director in Sweden to cast him in their action movies. Except for Anders Nilsson who stays away from Sauk mercifully enough.Readers might already be acquainted with Anders Nilssons film-making from the first two installments in this trilogy. I can start off by saying that this movie is far superior to both the previous films. The technical quality, the acting and the action are all much more refined. This is without a doubt the best action movie to come out of Sweden for a very long time. Perhaps the best ever?So what makes this such a great movie? Well first of all it seems Anders Nilsson manages to keep his Hollywood-complex in check. It seems he knows that he can't have two hours of intense action so instead he goes for a better approach. The action scenes are few and far between, but well made when they DO happen. Also he doesn't hesitate to use foreign actors which feels like something more Swedish directors should do. It adds substantially to the realism of the movie. Last but not least the script feels properly worked through. Many times scripts for Swedish movies feel unfinished and filled with strange plot-holes and nonsensical twists. This is at least one step up in quality from most others.In the end this finally feels like a Swedish action movie that people outside of Sweden can actually enjoy. That the budget is still well below 5 million USD shows of course, but the money is used wisely and this is an enjoyable experience. Hopefully other Swedish directors now understand that the bar has been raised. I rate this 6/10.

The first movies in this series all had a focus in Sweden, and in Swedish culture. This last instalment leaves the Swedish focus, and makes it in to a European thriller instead. While this can lay a basis for a far greater funding, it also makes the film less appealing to Swedish viewers, in that it sets it self up for comparison with other movies with far greater funding, for instance the Bourne Identity. I am sad to say that the story is confusing, the audience laughed quite often when there obviously was no humour involved. And, worst of all, around me people fell to sleep. And this was during a quite loud action movie. If you really want to see a good Swedish movie, see `Smala Sussi', or `Ondskan', better still, see both. Keep away from this movie until you can see it for free on TV.