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Fjalla
Reviews
Blood Red Sky (2021)
An entertaining mess
Don't get me wrong, it's bad. It has uneven pace, questionable acting, recycled twists and a lot of cliches. It doesn't have logic, satisfying combat scenes, deep epiphanies, humor or anything really what people watch movies for.
And yet, once you let go of any expectations and hopes, it was a not too disappointing 2 hours! It has just enough to turn "bad" into "so bad it's good" without being an intentional parody. At some point I was even excited, waiting to see what ELSE they will throw at my face. And - not to go into any spoilers but - the phrase "Uncuff him" is definitely one of the best jokes of the year.
Katla (2021)
As slow as it should be
I'm amused by the amount of people saying this show is "too slow" and "could be wrapped up in 3 episodes". Have you ever heard about the genre "Nordic noir"? It IS supposed to be slow, depressing and leaving unanswered questions.
Otherwise it's like watching a Marvel movie and asking why there are so many mutants and superheroes with ridiculous abilities. That's the point of the genre. Superhero movies have their rules, Hallmark production its own, and Nordic noir its own.
Now, for those who know what they are going to watch, this show hits all the right spots, and yet remains refreshingly engaging. Someone in the earlier comments compared it to Australian Glitch - the similarity is indeed there, but Glitch, in my opinion, was an entangled mess of loose ends, and I was never able to finish it, but Katla just went in one go.
There are indeed a few awkward plothole moments when just a couple of questions could, ugh, "speed up the pace", but it's not really about speedying anything up. Everyone is soaked up in their own past, and the surrounding reality is often hard to distinguish from sticky, dim anguish of memories. In this setting, with raging ash storms and blended borders between black sand beaches, northern sea and heavy sky, would you really be surprised to see someone looking a tad bit older than expected?
I really hope there will be no season 2, at least with the current characters. Their stories are wrapped up - time for the new ones.