3 out of 5

Director: Charlotte Brandstrom

I’d really like to kick this up a star, as it is definitely the most fun Falk picture yet, filled with good moments and chuckles through and through, but in upgrading to the HD world for 2012, and perhaps to make a mark on the Falk scene after a few year pause from films (this entry was 2012, previous one was 2009), director Brandstrom rather overdoes the intro with action and swearing and Angry Falk, and similarly there’s a silly last minute twist that reeks of Shock Value that hasn’t been necessary previously in the series.  Plus, those chuckles come at the expense of feelings of consequence for the characters, bringing to mind the series lowpoint ‘Operation Näktergal’… but don’t get confused there, as ‘Spelets’ is an infinitely better film, with more exciting framing and directorial confidence and does away with the dour mood and dramatics that also weighed down ‘Näktergal’.  It’s just that we’re not too concerned about Frank Wagner, as he gets wrapped back up in police assistance at the behest of his ex-girlfriend, and we’re dealing with fresh faces on GSI and without the political maneuverings that made the Anders Nilsson crewed pics somewhat unique in tone, and Johan’s team takes down their drug lord target without many of the FUUUUUCK hiccups that generally show up in each pic and make Johan utter an ‘oh hell.’  So perhaps there’s praise for breaking from formula, but the charm of the series has been its avoidance of a typical action cop formula and doing the humble thing instead, those hiccups coming in as dashes of reality and the recognizable responses of our team feeling like equally real, human behavioral additions to the Falky pot.  The tactic taken by director Brandstrom and screenwriters Tage Åström and Viking Johansson is to finally accept the familiarities of the series and play it for comfortable excitement.  So, again, it’s a lot of fun.  And Eklund gets the chance to be a cranky old man with some green GSI’ers, and he and Joel Kinnaman have settled on a grumbling good chemistry, and all the side players know the balance of their roles, Marie Richardson again doing a lot with only a few lines, letting us see glimmers of the how and why Johan has decided to stay with Helen (and vice versa).

Don’t expect much edge of your seat in ‘Spelets,’ and it’s not a major plot-churning entry, but it was a great way to kick right back in to high gear thanks to it being, simply, an incredibly entertaining movie.  I’d easily take several entries along these lines, although, of course, I hope that the series wanders back into the more mercurial territory of the Anders era sooner rather than later.