Michael Fassbender's mixed movie year seems to have continued as The Snowman has been branded "abominable" in first reviews.
Based on Jo Nesbø's bestselling novel, The Snowman sees an elite crime squad investigate the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, leading detective Harry Hole (Fassbender) to fear that an elusive serial killer, who leaves a snowman at each murder scene, is back.
With the help of brilliant recruit Katrine Bratt (Mission: Impossible's Rebecca Ferguson), Harry must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to catch the killer before the next snowfall.
We've rounded up the first reviews below.
"The Snowman goes wrong quickly, permanently, and in a spiral, turning into a nonsensical nightmare of Scandi-noir howlers from which you sometimes feel you may never awaken."
"As Marco Beltrani's score works at a dizzying level to paper over the cracks, The Snowman dribbles to an exquisitely-shot finale with a sad sense of loss for the talent involved and the project this might have been."
"All the signs pointed to a hit chiller: great cast, a director with fantastic form and a celebrated Jo Nesbø novel to draw from. So it's a huge shame, then, that The Snowman is a bit grey and slushy when it should have been cool and crisp."
"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but there's no fire – delightful or otherwise – inside The Snowman, a suitably frosty but flaccid first attempt at Hollywoodising the oeuvre of popular Norwegian noir merchant Jo Nesbø."
"Watching the film feels like a trudge through deep snow, and when its revelations come, they fail to make the desired impact."
"For all its high-calibre talent mix, The Snowman is a largely pedestrian affair, turgid and humourless in tone. The cast share zero screen chemistry, much of the dialogue feels like a clunky first draft and the wearily familiar plot is clogged with clumsy loose ends."
The Snowman is released in cinemas on 13 October.
