Director: Tomas Alfredson
Writers: Peter Straughan (screenplay by), Hossein Amini (screenplay by)
Stars: Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg
The Snowman is based on a novel by Norwegian crime-writer Jo Nesbø called “Snømannen” which came out over a decade ago and is about Detective Harry Hole (Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a woman whose pink scarf is found wrapped around an ominous-looking snowman.
The movie should have been an enjoyable thriller with a suspenseful storyline. The trailer itself painted this picture when we first got out first glimpse in July 2017. Instead what we have is a confusing plot that jumps around with no logic. Sometimes it helps to read the novel that the movie was based on and in this case that may have helped me. (although I have heard of people who have read the book and were still confused)
One of the saving graces of the movie is Fassbender who is a terrific actor and casting him perhaps gave a rather substandard movie a little credibility. His performance although isn’t his best, won’t do his reputation any harm and for any movie goers out there will realise that The Snowman’s faults do not fall with him.
With a cast of Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, J.K. Simmons, Val Kilmer, Toby Jones, Chloe Sevigny and James D’Arcy I expected more. Unfortunately most of their characters were reduced to being almost irrelevant.
I believe this movie suffered on so many levels with it’s production that effected its standards and editing but some of the plus points in the movie is it’s visuals and cinematography. The stunning Scandinavian landscape was nice to look at and the lighting in the film and in particular the suspense scenes worked well. As too did the soundtrack with a tense sound used in the correct manner added a haunting vibe to the movie.
I would go as far to say that this film isn’t exactly a horror and more a thriller that resembled the X-File Movie from 2008 “I Want To Believe” If you are looking for a jump scare movie then this isn’t for you. It’s not the worst movie, but bad production and editing perhaps made this potentially one of the years biggest failures. I can’t recommend this.
