Critic Reviews

Director Andersen’s pacing is dynamic, allowing white-knuckled viewers to catch their breaths before he takes it away again. This isn’t a sequel, it’s an after-shock – and a doozy at that.

With well-staged action, good character work, and believable progressions from the previous installment, The Quake is the sequel that fans of “The Wave” deserve.

John Andreas Andersen’s The Quake, a sequel to the excellent 2015 Norwegian disaster film The Wave, should be required viewing for all of today’s Hollywood franchise jockeys. It shows you how to make one of these things without sacrificing your characters’ souls (or your own, for that matter).

The Quake hits a handful of the cliches one expects from a disaster film, as well as having one character’s death not mean as much as it should. However, thanks to strong characterizations and good acting the plot is still engaging. However, the reason to watch the film is the excellent cinematography and awe-inspiring effects.

That The Quake can still grab, alarm and thrill is a testament to skilled storytelling, empathetic performances and effects that rewrite the book on how disasters play out on the big screen.

When the trouble does hit in this film, it hits hard, at which point all the investment in character pays off.

The Quake offers visceral thrills.

When the devastating quake finally strikes, it creates a truly suspenseful scenario of vertiginous falls and last-minute saves.

This Quake delivers with skill. The build-up to the disaster nicely intensifies with a feeling of dread, and some of the subtlest early effects are the most powerful.

There’s nothing terribly profound or innovative about what The Quake achieves. But like “The Wave” before it, it’s just intelligent and serious enough to give you your escapist cake — deluxe popcorn perils in all their big-screen glory — without making you eat the familiar guilt of empty-calorie overload.