Johan Falk: GSI - Gruppen för särskilda insatser (2009)

What a heap of troubles.Sweden often combats crime; one may say it's "our" forté.Trouble is, the same actors adapt the same dour, sour stance when affronting the crimes perpetrated by other film-makers and actors, all from Sweden. It's a downward trajectory.Here, the biggest crime is courtesy of Jacob Eklund, who would not be able to act his way out of a paper bag; he's far too lackadaisical and apathetic to be a lead guy, and his character's simply not believable.This story is somewhat interesting as one specific criminal quickly proves to be an informant for the police. That's about it, really. The action is questionable as I kept looking at my wall behind the TV at times, for more exciting stuff; I'm not exaggerating when writing it.Fingers crossed for more excitement.

At first glance, you might think the Johan Falk series was some sort of libertarian fantasy--intrepid lone hero breaks all the petty rules of society to struggle against titanic forces of evil. But of course it's just the opposite--Johan Falk is slick propaganda for the police state.Why does Johan have to be the lone hero in the first place? Because the powers of law and order are hobbled by all those silly rules of due process and civil liberties, and the only answer (as the stories repeatedly assert) must be a huge increase in the surveillance, regulatory, and policing power of the state. Take that, Ayn Rand! To be sure, the show is extremely well made, with lots of action, fancy houses, and hot actors. And also lots of hokum about the takeover of Europe by criminal forces to justify our only salvation, a total police state. And do NOT even whisper the word "Fascism," or Johan will ridicule you as politically correct eunuch.I hear this is Dick Cheney's favorite show. He probably watches it on the local state-funded, "liberal" PBS station.

There aren't many titles to reckon with when it comes to Swedish action/thriller genre. Remember the Hamilton disaster? It was suppose to be a movie, but instead it's tagged as a TV production at IMDb. Again the Swedish film industry tries and fails miserably. I'm not being mean by saying that, just realistic. There aren't many talented film makers to start with in Sweden. And those with talent are never around Swedish action/thriller productions.This is just another typical cop-snitch story written poorly and directed with a terrible manner. Acting was good, but I couldn't say that about all the actors in these series of GSI movies. There are a few of them(don't wanna name them) that should NEVER be in front of a camera, or nowhere near a film-making-team. What I hated the most with GSI is that through out the whole set of them, you get the feeling that your watching a B-TV-series. The camera shot's all the angles stiffly, and you get a feeling that your watching a theatre play. The "action" scenes are also similar, and have no dynamic at all. I don't have to be an expert to know that capturing the action scenes badly will result in a disaster.That being said, GSI is not a disaster, it could have been worse. As I understand many people "with low expectation" actually enjoy the GSI series and movies alike. And the film industry in Sweden probably makes a few bucks(kronor) out of them. But with these low expectations and poor directing there might never be born a-grate-action-movie-of-Sweden. I'll keep dreaming of that day to come.

This flick, a continuation of the series about Johan Falk, is once again centered in Gothenburg, Sweden, to which the hero returns, even if his wife and kid lingers on in Brussels. Jakob Eklund, as usual in the leading role, has, as the producer pointed out in a private screening yesterday, mellowed out and soften up, both visavis his acting and visavis his voice - both making his acting more realistic, and less stage-like.The story is about bold armed robberies in plain daylight, and how the new anti-organized crime unit - GSI - tries to tackle them. Well told, well acted, if not awe-inspiring so.A new delight is Patrik (Joel Kinnaman), as an informer, working closely with his handler Tommy (also very well player by an actor those real name I don't know), and happens to be present when the two of the GSI team run into Patrik and his Russian boss - very effectively told, and the aftermath is a gripping. In the melee Tommy is fatally wounded by the Russian, and Johan Falk takes over, if very sceptical to do so at first. We, the public, doesn't at this stage in the story know that Patrik is an informer, nor does Johan Falk, so there is a very nice side plot, in which we get to know a bit about Patrik, and where Johan learn to trust Patrik. As usual, the really bad guys die, but Patrik and his criminal colleages manages to escape, for the next installment :-)!In short, a film with many excellent scenes, locations and actors, but the total isn't a 100% hit.