Technically adept, to-the-point and directed with simplicity and clarity, The Wave is a welcome antidote to the bloated excess of Hollywood’s disaster movie output. The film has some excellent set-pieces and can often be wince-inducing but there is also a lot of familiar beats that bring the whole thing down a few notches. The story is essentially the same as The Impossible with a touch of Dante’s Peak. It never really strays away from a predictable path and systematically checks off all the plot beats we’d expect. Still, I liked the characters and the foreign setting is refreshing. The fact this film is so well-made heightens it to something above average and director Roar Uthaug deserves all the praise in the world. It didn’t blow me away but it is an entertaining and engaging little picture featuring lots of big moving parts.
