‘The Wave’ is a non-Hollywood non-blockbuster

If for nothing else, the Norwegian drama “The Wave” would be notable as a disaster picture on a human scale.

Another plus is that you won’t leave the theater feeling thrashed by the megabuck special effects obligatory in Hollywood’s current blockbusters.

The CGI tsunami in “The Wave” is modest in scale (and no doubt in cost), but it’s effective.

[...] he goes into hyperdrive to rescue his wife (Ane Dahl Torp) and two children, whom we’ve already encountered in a couple of enjoyable scenes of home life.

When it comes, the wave —as crisply rendered as the rest of the movie — is good and scary.

Some of the pro forma scenes, like the residents abandoning their cars to try to outrun the wall of water, are dispatched quickly and with enough unexpected turns to feel fresh.

[...] while in most respects the work by director Roar Uthaug is highly capable, he does seem to have picked a few of the secondary characters from the catalog of disaster movie clichés.