Operation Napoleon

Not sure how I lucked out on seeing the trailer 2 days ago online but I'm glad I did. Ended up streaming this today as I had nothing better to do. As an avid reader of clive cussler, the storyline is a spot on copy of one of his books with more of a pursuit thriller tone than treasure hunt. I really enjoyed the casting and liked just about every character. I've seen maybe 10 Iceland films in my life and this will be one I rewatch. Could the storyline be a bit better... sure... but overall this was a fun watch and had me on the edge of my seat for a bit. Good pacing and never felt bored. Highly recommend.

This is a perfect example of how you completely fail at adapting a book into a movie. The only thing this film has in common with the book is its title.

The story, characters names; their backstory, age and even gender are different from the book in every way. I wonder how the book's author could have possibly greenlit this script. The result is a paper thin film, a typical cliché which brings nothing original or fresh to this genre of "made for Hollywood" film market.

The characters drive, ambitions and goals are never solidified in any believable way. Heck they're barely introduced to the viewer by name half of the time.

Just to top it all, the "plot" behind the movie is hastily explained after everything has transpired, followed by the lame "two weeks later" on a black screen. The tone of the film weirdly changes to an Indiana Jones movie, completely contradicting the vague character building we have been objected to throughout the film.

The ending then gives a hint at a sequel which is funny considering there is only one book. But hey, why not, the book has already been established as a mere formality at this point.

I enjoy reading icelandic crime novels, and although i live in a mediterranean country, i am very attracted to the icy scenes, thick wool sweaters, snowmobiles, and aerial views of snowy forests. I also really like the detective erlendur series of arnaldur indraðsson, perhaps the greatest writer of icelandic detective fiction. The novel which the movie is based on is not one of them, but when i saw indraðsson's name, i was excited to watch it. But the result is a complete disappointment. I wish i had bought and read the book before. The movie is terrible, and now that i know the plot, i have no desire to read the book. The actors seem to have stepped out of a hollywood c-series movie. So, i was quite happy to see a familiar face in the second half of the movie: ólafur darri ólafsson. He did not surprise me again, he is perhaps the only good thing about this bad movie. With his big body, he makes you think how tired he was on the film set, but even if he was, he never shows any signs of tiredness in the films, he moves so easily within the story that for a moment, one can forget that he is watching something fictional. It can still be watched to kill time, but when you take away a few good things like ólafsson, there is almost nothing left...

The film begins in April 1945, days before the Nazi surrender, when a bomber flies over Iceland in the middle of a terrible storm. Almost 80 years later, some hikers find remains of the plane on the Vatjanokull glacier, remains that hide a secret that could change the course of history and that the deputy director of the CIA wants to obtain before anyone else. Then a lawyer is sucked into an international conspiracy after being accused of a murder she didn't commit. Her only chance of survival lies in uncovering the secret of an old German WWII airplane, discovered on Iceland's largest glacier.

An old and dark Nazi secret, the deputy director of the CIA, some inopportune witnesses and a young woman forced to rescue her brother and trying to solve the enigma to save her life come together in this murky and dangerous thriller. Being based on the crime novel of the same name by the Nordic writer (Reikavik Nights, Hypothermia¨). Starring Icelandic actress Vivian Ólafsdóttir , Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones) and Jack Fox (series ¨Sandition, ¨Riviera¨). As tense as it is exciting, the film is the most expensive in the history of Icelandic cinema. The historical part of the film Operation Napoleon is inspired by one of the biggest secrets of World War II, surrounding a long-mysterious train about which there are doubts whether it really existed, and revolving around a persistent rumor of exile that is probably true but never verified, however, the intrigue part of the film dedicated to contemporary American espionage is fiction. Thus, following in the footsteps of Arnaldur Indridason's book from which it is well adapted, the film Operation Napoleon romanticizes a true story to bring it to the screen with a certain power, containing enough intrigue and tension throughout until a surprising ending that is left open for a possible second part.

The film mixes theories of Hitler's last days, in which he had allegedly signed a pact with the allies in order to escape to Argentina, along with so-called Nazi gold. The Nazi Gold Train is an urban legend about a train loaded with gold and treasure that was hidden by the Nazis in southwestern Poland during the final days of World War II. The apocryphal story claims that the train full of valuables, including works of art, was hidden in a sealed railway tunnel or mine in the central Sudetenland by the retreating Nazis. Despite numerous searches since 1945, including by the Polish army during the Cold War, no evidence of the train, its tracks or its treasure has ever been found. Historians believe the train never existed. However, some people believe it to be true. Between 2015 and 2018, the train received renewed interest from global media when two Poles claimed to have discovered it using ground-penetrating radar. The search culminated in an excavation involving the Polish military, state officials and privately funded individuals.

I went to the theatre with pretty high hopes. With the trailer being interesting and me being a sucker for conspiracy movies. But as i left the theatre i was kind of split on what i thought. On one hand it was a well edited and filmed movie with good set pieces. And on the other hand the acting is often suppar, the protagonists motivation often doesint feel the same as they try and present it. And the antagonist could also have been better written and more intimidating.

But for me what put me the most off, was what Operation Napoleon actually was.

The movie clearly shows that whatever is on that nazi plane that crashed in vatnajökull is top tier secretive and anyone who even lays eyes on it without permission must be killed. This is showed throughout the entire movie. So eventually at the end of the movie when it's revealed what Operation Napoleon was. I was kind of disappointed. Not just in what it actually was but in how it was presented. In most conspiracy/mystery stories, the mystery is slowly revealed over time. But here its like we get to know who was involved in this operation and thats it. Until the end, where its all slam-dunked onto the viewers. What i would have found to make it better. If they simply increased the stake at the beginning when they find the plane. For example that one of the dead people being in that plane being... what the whole reason Operation Napoleon was. Then we'd also get more insight into this and we would also understand more to why its so secretive.

And also with what Operation Napoleon was. If this was real, america could have spun this so easily on everyones head like they have done before with these kind of things.