Suske en Wiske: De duistere diamant

A famous comic, some famous Flemish names and a lot of promotion. A guaranteed good movie or not…? People said it's a great movie, others say it sucked and IMDb gives it a 5.7. We'll see about that.

Every Flemish citizen and even furthermore everybody knows Suske and Wiske from the comic books. So a movie couldn't last, right? But the first thought that filled my head says: 'What did they do to Stany Crets?' This cute guy, who plays Jerom, opens the film by shouting he's not coming. Stany Crets isn't the only guy they messed up; everybody meet Frank Focketyn, Dirk Roofthooft and Peter van den Begin. But I know, that's supposed to be in this film and after a while you get used to it. It's actually kind off cool to see those big people like that. All dressed up like Willy Vandersteen, who was responsible for the comic books, meant it. The most realistic one is the magician, played by Daan Hugeart. His make-up and clothes are perfect and well, it's the best costume to end with.

The movie starts straight away with mystery and I think that's good. It keeps people awake and alert for what's coming up. This a typical child movie, though. The actors – most of them are supposed to be pretty good – seemed to lost their talents and de special effects aren't always that good, but in the end: children won't mind. I'm sure the like this movie, but the real film fans should watch out: if you wane see a really good Flemish movie, please leave this one for a while, and try something as 'De Zaak Alzheimer'…

Anyway, I enjoyed the film after all. The length of the film is just 1,5h, but that's just long enough not to get bored. The kids should watch it!

I think they did a nice try at filming an episode of the (in the Dutch language area) famous comic series "Suske en Wiske", but perhaps tried to stay too close to the scenes in the comic itself, which might be hard to film.

On the positive side there is the scenery: they picked real nice locations for the films, giving it a nice atmosphere. Suske and Wiske are played quite decent. Wiske appears a bit older than you would expect from the comic books. As said, they tried to stay very close to the comic itself, which makes a nice story.

A definitive downside is the actor(!) playing Tante Sidionia. Why they casted a man to play this female role may remain a mystery, but a man speaking in falsetto utterly fails in putting anything other than a weak parody on the screen.

Another downside is the quality of the action scenes, which appear clumsy.

It's a nice movie to rent and watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon with the kids.

Okay, so the story was sorta iffy, and the acting so-so.

The casting of Suske and Lambik was on the edge.

Jeroms chest could easily have been simulated much better with foam or something, and he didn't have his eyes closed as he has in the books! But still ... the overall effort was very endearing.

But ... the special effects were way cool for such limited funds.

But ... Tante Sidonie's portrayal by a man turned out to be one of the good finds of this film, a gem really.

And OF COURSE, Wiske was surprisingly bumpy, and she didn't only have very ... nice (?) apples, but also something more, albeit two tiny tiny somethings .... ^-^ '-^ Her face DID, however, look exactly like the one in the book. She was clearly cast because of her likeness with the book Wiske.

Yesterday I saw this movie on DVD.

First thing that I've noticed: this story is completely incomprehensible if you did not read the comic-book! The story is told in a very amateurish way, which makes it sometimes difficult to follow. Of course: if you have read the book, you can fill in the missing parts. If you haven't read the book: good luck in trying to understand the story.

Or let's say the details in the story.

This is really a pity since the actors are doing a great job. Especially Stany Crets as Jerommeke is great!

Another complaint: I have never seen such unprofessional rubbish on a DVD as extra. Not much extra on the DVD, only the making of. first 10 minutes are great and you can have a look behind the scenes. But then you as spectator are treated on a movie-clip which I only can describe as some kind of camcorder record: a 3 minutes shot of a door ?? Shots filmed when the camera was supposed to be switched off (so, you see floor and ceiling). This made my DVD experience quite special I must see ;-)

conclusion: the actors did a great job, even the special effects and decors were OK. Unfortunately a bad director and bad cut totally kills this movie experience. If you have the DVD there is an unforgettable "extra" which is so bad, one have to see it to believe it.

I think it's impossible to make a truly good movie, enjoyable for both children and adults, of the suske and wiske-comic books. The stories of this happy duo are just not cut out to be played by real actors of flesh and blood. Characters such as Lambik, Aunt Sidonia or Professor Barabas are funny in the comics, but if real actors play them they are dumb, irritating and slightly childish. This being said, I must add that the movie also has its good points. It does have that same nice atmosphere that marks the comic books and for the fans it's nice to see the universe of S&W come to live. And it has fair special-effects for a Belgian/Dutch product. Okay, it doesn't have the quality of the Harry Potter-movies, but that level simply is unreachable.

I'd recommend this movie to the real hardcore S&W-fans, the rest of the movie lovers shouldn't even try it.