Tödliche Tricks

This is not the first time Columbo has entered the world of magic and illusion in the course of his investigations; it is an ideal setting for murder, with its built-in "things are not what they seem to be" theme. This movie, however, goes into greater detail exploring the mechanics of trickery, and adds in the richer theme of (supposed) paranormal phenomena to make things more confusing. A renowned magician and debunker of fake mystics (perhaps modelled somewhat on James Randi) declares that a celebrated young psychic is the genuine article, and has actually succeeded in passing rigorous laboratory tests to prove his psychic ability. In fact, the psychic is a fake, as the magician is fully aware, but a combination of guilt and sentiment over some shared history between the two men leads him to cover up for the young man, who takes advantage of this weakness to kill him. Columbo must not only work his way through the tricky surfaces presented by professional magicians, he has to also deal with a murderer who has been authoritatively declared a genuine psychic by the victim. The most useful advice he gets comes from a rather snotty little boy who is a magic buff and tells him "It's a trick. You start out knowing it's a trick, and then you figure out how to do it." Watching Columbo learn how to duplicate the apparently mystical feats of his opponent is highly enjoyable.

Without being absolutely outstanding, Columbo Goes to the Guillotine is a solid and nice return for the great detective. The second half does drag though, and some scenes go on for too long, but other than that it is a very good episode, helped primarily by a good script and a clever plot with some interesting magic tricks. The locations and photography as per usual are striking, and the music is good as well. The acting isn't outstanding but it is still good. Peter Falk I have no problem with, while Anthony Andrews gives a good turn as well, while the supporting cast while not as good are solid. Overall, it is a nice return for Columbo, with an 8/10. Bethany Cox

11 years after the last Columbo movie "Columbo: The Conspirators", Peter Falk returns as the scruffy looking famous Los Angeles police lieutenant. He could had made a far worse comeback, for "Columbo: Columbo Goes to the Guillotine" is simply a solid and well made Columbo movie entry.

For this project they safely picked director Leo Penn, who had already directed the solid Columbo movie "Columbo: Any Old Port in a Storm", 16 years earlier. He provides the movie with a steady and pleasant pace, using lots of cuts and dynamic camera-work. I have to say this is really one of the more stylish looking Columbo movies, as if they had more money to spend this time and more time to put in details and make things look more perfect. It probably was also true, since they of course had to ensure that Columbo would be picked up again by the viewers and it all had to be as good and successful again as the 'old' Columbo movies.

Even though it takes a long while for the murder to occur (it occurs after 24 minutes into the movie) and therefore also takes a long while for Lt. Columbo to make his grand entrance, it still is a movie that will keep you interested throughout, due to its nice written and compelling story, even though it sort of 'borrows' at times from the previous Columbo movie "Columbo: Now You See Him ", from 1976.

Anthony Andrews is perfectly cast and he really suits his role well as the movie its murderer. One thing that is very typical for the 'newer', post-'70's Columbo movies is that they mostly feature unknown actors as the movie its 'villains' opposite Lt. Columbo, unlike the 'older' Columbo movies, which always featured some big stars from movie, TV and even from the musical world in it, as the movie its killer. This new approach for the later Columbo movies, with casting mostly unknown actors in the important roles, doesn't always work out as well as it does in this movie though.

Unfortunalty the movie sleeps in a bit in the movie its second halve. Some of the sequences go on for too long and could had made their point much earlier. Seems to me they just HAD to fill around 90 minutes. A bit of a shame, since if this movie entirely would had been more like it's first halve, this movie could had really been among the best Columbo movies out of the long running successful series. The movie tends to get better toward the ending again but its ruined by a more slightly weak ending.

Overall a nice comeback from the good old lieutenant and on par with most other quality Columbo movies.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Elliot Blake is a well-known psychic who is working to prove his skills to the US Government so he can enter the lucrative and highly secretive programme for developing psychic powers. Despite having blitzed the tests (with a little help from the inside) the game appears up when magician and renowned cynic Max Dyson is brought in by the Government to give him a harder test. What the Government agents don't know is that the men have a history and Dyson helps Blake by passing him despite him being a fake. However this history also drives Blake to kill Dyson in the latter's own magic guillotine – making it look like a tragic accident. It appears an open and shut case of death by misadventure but a Philips head screwdriver is enough to put doubt in Columbo's mind. Finding that Dyson had just worked with Blake and signed him off as genuine, Columbo turns to his unique talent to assist him with the case.

As with many TV film series (such as Perry Mason), if you like one or two of them then you'll pretty much like them all. This entry in the Columbo series pretty much follows the usual formula – we know the killer and the "perfect" plan but then watch Columbo follow his hunch and gradually starts to pick holes in the story he is told before eventually finding enough to prove his suspicions. Knowing this ahead of time won't ruin anything for you; it is simply what happens in all the films. With this strict adherence to formula it is usually down to several factors whether or not the Columbo film stands out or if it is just average. The new Columbo films don't always pull this trick off but this one is enjoyable enough thanks to sticking close to the formula to cover up for the unlikely nature of the plot. Although it provides some nice ideas, the narrative lacks a real lack of convincing development and this at times put me off but generally it had enough about it to keep me interested.

The way Columbo solves the mystery isn't a nice, logical story but moves in jumps and sudden discoveries; again it is entertaining enough but not quite as satisfying where he picks at smaller details. The magical aspect of the story has been done better earlier in the series but it still works well here, providing Columbo with some nice scenes where he turns the tricks on Elliott to get his man. It isn't classic fare but it should satisfy fans. Falk is on good form, which helps, and he does enjoy a nice chemistry with Andrews. The latter is not great but he is good enough to work within the formula and make for an interesting target for Columbo. Support from Zerbe is good but other than him nobody else is really that memorable.

Overall this is not up to the standard of the better Columbo episodes from the 1970's but it is actually reasonably good. By sticking to formula it covers up the plot weaknesses and will do enough to satisfy fans of the film. A much better alternative would be "Columbo: Now You See Him" but failing a return to the best days this is an OK modern Columbo.

Good Scenes and Good acting. however? The writers should have come up with a better ending. Peter Falk should have insisted on it. Columbo actually risks his life betting that the murderer will try to TAKE his life at the end. If he didn't take the bait? Columbo would have been killed, I will not say how. People need to watch it. However, you need a whole lot of "Suspension of Disbelief"