Diabolik

It is an entertaining movie.

The soundtrack is beautiful.

It is clear that they put a lot of effort to crete the 60s vibe with a lot of liminal spaces.

You have all the tropes in it: the sensual woman, the attractive and skilled villain and the determined detective.

I think that the masks part was an inspiration from "Fantômas".

I had mixed fellings about how should I feel about a movie that glorifies crooks and killers but now I'm sure, I hate it because even if some of people killed haven't been clean they haven't been dirty enough to justify a killing and most of them have been regular people anyway.

This is a '60 movie for the "modern" audiences where the bad must be presented as good.

I know about "Diabolik" as a character from a comic book, though I actually never read it. So as I sat down to watch this 2021 Italian movie from directors Antonio Manetti and Marco Manetti, I didn't really know what to expect.

Writers Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti, Michelangelo La Neve and Mario Gomboli put together an entertaining storyline and script for the movie. Sure, it was a pretty straight forward crime heist mystery, but there was still something that worked about it. Perhaps it was a mixture of the storyline and character gallery.

With my very limited exposure to the Italian cinema, then I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble at all. But they definitely had some good talents on the cast list, especially the leading actors Luca Marinelli (playing Diabolik) and Valerio Mastandrea (playing Ginko), as well as leading actress Miriam Leone (playing Lady Kant).

There is a good amount of mystery, action and character development throughout the course of the 133 minutes that the movie ran for. And I will say that I didn't find a single dull moment throughout the runtime of the movie. So thumbs up to directors Antonio Manetti and Marco Manetti on that accomplishment.

Visually then "Diabolik" was good. It wasn't a movie that made use of a whole lot of CGI. But the effects in the movie worked well in favor of the overall movie. And the wardrobe department definitely also did a good jobs.

If you haven't seen "Diabolik" yet, and enjoy a heist movie laced with mystery elements, then give this 2021 Italian movie a chance.

My rating of "Diabolik" lands on a six out of ten stars.

As a huge fan of the character, and having felt let down by the 1968 cartoonish effort to bring Diabolik to screen, I was really pumped to learn that this film was being made and had great expectations for it.

Well...

Truth is that I sat in horror during the entire first act as I could not believe the absolutely incompetent direction, writing and acting displayed on screen. The Manetti brothers should stick to TV films and soap operas as they are clearly not cut for this genre.

But hey what do I know? They are already working on the second and third installments lol.

I want to mention that when Claudia Gerini entered the screen, for a moment I forgot that I was watching a mediocre school play. I wish she was in for more. I also really felt that Marinelli, although he did a decent job, was wrongly cast as Diabolik as he does not have the phisique du role. Same for Leone, which beauty and hair pulled up are not enough to make her a believable Eva Kent. Music score was generic and did not help propel the story.

Although I was hoping for the contrary, Diabolik 2022 doesn't stand a chance against the many international titles out there in the same genre, and as a first installment of what it appears to become a trilogy, unfortunately it is not really promising.

Michael Jackson would know - I mean no pun intended of course. First things first: neither have I seen the Mario Bava movie (60s I believe) nor have I read the source material. So no idea how this fares to either of those. I did watch the direct sequel though (part 2, part 3 was not out at the time of writing in Germany).

Even without seeing that there is a Bava movie, I would have said this feels like a throwback. In many senses - the main female character may be a bit more "modern", but almost everything in the movie has a 60s vibe to it. And I am not just talking about the time/era this plays in ... we do get to see a partial nude behind ... not sure that was something that movies did back in the 60s ... but let's not get hung up on ... well "butts". Again no pun intended as always.

The main character (see title) is quite the interesting anti hero. He is anything but a good guy ... and yet we may find ourselves rooting for him. There is a big twist that does not make much sense - (non existing) dialog wise, but if you suspend your disbelief you will have fun with the movie ... and its roller coaster ride!

Amoral thief Diabolik is planning to steal a pink diamond from the wealthy Lady Eva Kant. An expanded adaptation of the third issue of the comic (L'arresto di Diabolik, 1963), where Kant's character is introduced.

The movie, set in "the late 1960s" in the fictional Clerville, is crafted like an Italian giallo of the time. Aside from the attention to scenography and costumes this stylistic choice is clear in cinematography, the use of editing, and the screenplay. The pace is much slower that what you would be used to in an action movie or thriller today, giving more of a vague vintage 'mystery' vibe, and sometimes relying too much on exposition. None of the camp of Mario Bava's "Danger: Diabolik", however: this is still a movie that takes itself seriously.

The main actors have good chemistry, with Eva Kant emerging as the real protagonist of the movie, but the cold and detached portrayal of the title character isn't inspiring and the actors beyond the main trio are forgettable.

Overall a charming and well-made work, although the style may not go well with all audiences.