Old Men in New Cars - In China essen sie Hunde 2

A prequel to "I Kina Spiser de Hunde" (In China they Eat Dogs) from 1999 with same writer/dírector/cast (save Dejan Cukic and a few others). This time, we follow Harald (Kim Bodnia) as he is released from jail, only to get involved in a plot to get Swedish serial killer Ludvig (Torkel Petterson) out of prison, so he can meet his estranged father, The Monk (Jens Okking). Once again, peppered with funny dialogue, not as inspired as the original, but with one hilarious scene in which the cooks and Harald futilely tries to speak English to a Swedish hotel receptionist. The car stunts are still clumsy, a notch above the sloppy action sequences from the first film, and the film is loaded with a high mortality rate, but it's uneven and substitutes black humor with a mean spirit, and even asks us to care about these characters, after putting them through numerous outlandish situations and hurling credibility out the window. Kim Bodnia plays it straight, but his tough guy act is getting a little tired by now, but Tomas Villum Jensen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas still make a great comic duo as the put-upon sidekicks. Iben Hjejle is lovely as Ludvig's love-interest, but her role is badly written (even though she gets to punch Bodnia in the face). Jacob Haugaard gets some laughs, too, as a seedy doctor. Note to writer Anders Thomas Jensen: A couple of anachronistic goofs. The film is supposed to take place before the first film, which was released in 1999. If this film is set before that, they couldn't have crossed the bridge between Denmark and Sweden, as it wasn't built at that time, and the national football league wasn't sponsored by SAS then, either.

The supernatural elements of the first film are totally ignored this time around. Okay entertainment, but doesn't hold up to close scrutiny. **½

"Gamle maend in nye biler - Alte Männer in neuen Autos`, the prequel to "I kina spiser de hunde". Part-time-chef and gangster Harald is here again, together with his subordinates, including Vuk and his Serbian body-guard. New among them is a Swedish psychopath, specialized in killing every woman he meets. But not in Denmark. There he meets the love of his life. Like in "I kina..." the cold-storage room becomes the mortuary, cooking becomes side-line. Though Harald's subordinates would rather take part in a pastry competition instead of supporting his criminal machinations.

Lasse Spang Olsen made a solid gangster flick but does not come up to "I Kina spiser de honde". Too much action too long, too much violence (esp. against Vuk), that does not result from comic accidents. Therefore, this "prequel" lacks the anarchic sense of humor, one would have expected. Solid, but not as good as "I kina.."

Well... it's not everyones style, but I liked it very much. No pseudo deep sense. Some funny scenes combined with action and a very little lovestory. Well, last I haven't needed, but it hasn't disturbed me. If you watch this movie you have to agree with your conscience that this is really only a movie. It's made to entertain people.

The story consists of Harald who just was released from prison and the first action he does is to commit a crime. Together with his two Henchmen Martin and Peter he has to get quite a lot of money. Harald is in dept and the Mafia wants its money fast. His compensation father needs a new liver and so the story is framed. Many little pieces are put together to a, in my opinion, good movie.

Who's not "antiviolent" should have seen it.

Comedy at it's best! The humour in this picture varies from lighter more jackass'isch to dark satirical aspects and sometimes borderline evil. The plot is probably totally impossible to explain for someone that hasn't seen it, with twists far beyond comprehension; the turns are as many as they are crazy. The characters are twisted and shows both the best and the worst sides of humanity(or lack thereof). The only thing one could complain about is the music -you could wish for a bit more, but that's just a minor thing.

There are several, independent, movies with the same characters which I highly recommend(all danish).

I just re-saw this move, and it's just as good as i remembered it. I was curious of it's IMDb rating so I had a peek. just to discover that this jewel of a film currently only have 6.7 is something that I find quite outrageous. so I decided to write my own review, and give credit where credit's due!

I'v read a couple of reviews here, and I see the people who bad-mouth this movie just don't get it.. It's a (black)comedy so it's not supposed to be taken to serious. If you do take it seriously you'r in for 95 minutes of cynical meaningless violence. Well in that case this movie probably isn't for you. As for me, i found it hysterical!

The action sequences are a bit over the top one might say. Then i say:"c'mon c'mon, it's a comedy!", at any rate the surreal car chases and what not is just stating this fact. The effects aren't Hollywood-ish but still not bad for Nordic production, as far as i can see. The dialogue is a work of art itself. Some conversations is just random nonsense, but still just makes the character more believable. And some good linguistic "jokes/spoofs" to, unfortunately some may get lost in translation. With the absurd mix of characters, ranging from sociopathic to suicidal, some just plain insane, you know you'r in for a good pitch black comedy!

By the way I have seen "I Kina Spiser de Hunde" as well, but i didn't find it funny in comparison to this movie. So i like to look at it as two separate movies.. or independent movies, or whatever... just my angle:)