Black Crab

 2.5/4

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Jakob Oftebro, Dar Salim, Erik Enge, Ardalan Ismaili, Aliette Opheim, Stella Marciman Klintberg

Not Rated (probable R for Strong Violence Throughout)

"Black Crab" feels like it's trying to be two movies at once.  One is a straightforward adventure thriller while the other is a deeper, more thoughtful film.  It's not impossible to be both ("Blood Diamond" is an excellent example), but director Adam Berg doesn't get the mix right.  It's too long for the former and too thin for the latter.  Berg apparently believes that the screenplay has more depth than it does.

Six people are sent on a desperate mission.  They're on the losing side of a war, and their suicidal undertaking is a Hail Mary pass.  They are to go behind enemy lines to deliver two canisters to an allied base.  For the first time in 37 years, a nearby strait has frozen over.  The ice is too thin for trucks, but human beings can walk fine.  At least in theory.  So their mission is to skate 100km across the ice and deliver the canisters and win the war.  Leading them is Forsberg (Opheim), their commander.  Next in the chain of command is Nylund (Oftebro).  Granvik (Enge) is the sniper.  Malik (Salim) and Karimi (Esmaili) are along because they can skate.  The ace in the hole is Caroline Edh (Rapace), a mom-turned-soldier badass who goes along because of a promise to be reunited with her daughter Vanja (Klintberg).

Right off the bat, Berg commits a fatal error: he skips the set-up entirely.  A substantial amount of world-building or character development would be unnecessary in a thriller like this, but the audience has to know the stakes.  For that, we have to know the players and what they're fighting for and against.  It feels like there is a scene completely missing.  There are other problems with the film as well, but no matter how good the rest of the film is, Berg's failure to set the stage is insurmountable.

When she burst onto the world stage with her strong (albeit overrated) performance as Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Noomi Rapace was hailed as the next big movie star.  Despite a lead role in "Prometheus" and a supporting role next to Robert Downey Jr., it didn't happen.  She faded off the grid, as so many would-be stars do.  She's a good actress and while she can't save the film, she at least keeps it afloat.  Frankly, she's better than the material she is given.  Her co-stars are fine, but they given even less to do than she is.

"Black Crab" isn't much fun.  Considering the bleak tone, I don't think that was the goal.  But the film is easily fifteen minutes too long, and in an adventure film like this, keeping the energy level high is paramount.  Slowing down is fine, if not necessary.  But the sense of urgency must remain.  That doesn't happen here.  Compare this to the underrated "Centurion," a film that, believe it or not, bears a striking similarity to this one.  The Neil Marshall adventure was even bleaker and bloodier, but the film seemed to never stop.  Even when it did, the sense of danger never dissipated.  Berg doesn't accomplish this.  Not least because the pacing is off and the characters are stick figures.

And hey, even if we all know that Ancient Rome existed, Marshall at least set up the story.


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