The Snowman Fizzles Under The Snow
By Alan Samuel
Puzzles are a hallmark of good thrillers. Be on the lookout for a madman or madwoman or combo on the loose in The Snowman. Expect the tension to ramp up in this classy whodunnit from Universal Pictures now convincingly carving corpses up meticulously at Cineplex Theatres around B.C.
Snowy Norway is the ideal setting for this mystery. Based on the runaway international bestseller Michael Fassbender stars as a down on his luck detective whose unsolved past cases weight heavily on his conscience. When a new murder materializes trust the veteran sleuth to need all his innate abilities to solve the crime.
Aided and abetted by a new officer on the team with a hi tech approach to catching culprits the two wind up in a race against time as all of a sudden more bad things occur. Rebecca Ferguson nicely portrays the new team player whose own past comes into question as does Fassbender’s character. Obvious baggage of the two become integral to the puzzle as a Series of suspects come to the fore. Like a game of CLUE all the pieces in this murky mystery don’t quite fit leaving the authorities at a loss as to who exactly is responsible for the horrors gripping the land.
Top flight acting from the likes of Toby Jones, Val Kilmer and J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) only ups the ante in this suspense laden spectacular. Trust the cinematography to wonderfully caress the snowy seductive landscape of the Norwegian slopes and fiords as a murder spree spreads oh so cunningly.
Despite being only a tad slow at times and a teeny bit moody The Snowman only proves you should trust no one and perhaps take to living in warmer climes as the mix of murder and snow is most revealing.