Based on the best selling novel, detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) begins to investigate murders by an unknown serial killer. The killer, for whatever reason, is targeting Harry by posting him postcards at the police station as well as leaving behind a Snowman at each crime scene. Harry joins forces with a young recruit (Rebecca Ferguson) and the two work together to catch this deadly killer and understand his past.
I personally enjoy a good thriller. To this day, some of my personal favourite “who done it” style films are films like “Kiss The Girls” or “Along with Came A Spider”. A good solid thriller keeps you on edge of your seat and should keep guessing over and over until the credits roll. The Snowman does… well… none of these things, which is disappointing considering it’s classed as a thriller.
The Snowman is without a doubt a solid looking and sounding film. To its credit, it looks and sounds good. The Bluray has a strong audio track, and the world of the film is gritty and covered in snow and darkness. But the story and pacing is a huge mess and “melts” into the ground.
While I’ve never read the book, The Snowman as a film sounds like something that should be rather simple. You know what I mean right? There’s a murderer who has a past and a motive, and then detectives who investigate until they catch him or her in the end. Instead, this film takes us in multiple directions, which sometimes involved even more characters, but the film never really felt like it delivered on any of these tangents. At times you almost feel like you are only watching snippets of the true story. Many scenes feel out of place and the order of the finished product doesn’t feel good at all. The film does manage better results in the third act, but by then I had absolutely no interest to invest.
It should also be noted that after I watched the film, I read on IMBD that this film was released with 15% of the screenplay missing- as in 15% of the storyline never got filmed. Based on this element alone, it’s clear that this has hurt the film’s results and has overall left me thinking of what could have been.
Overall, The Snowman is very disappointing. For the leading Actor Michael Fassbender, who I believe has genuinely invested a lot of effort, his talent has gone to waste in this film. The film’s way of telling the mystery is a mess and I truly cannot understand how it happened. Many scenes are watched without reason or any understanding as to how they develop the characters and most importantly, the plot. Saddens me to confess, but for me… It’s a mess.
1.5/10
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Review Written by Peter Walkden
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