Schutzengel

I've been trying to sort my feelings out about this film for about two years. When I saw it for first time, I've had my "shooter's ID" already (I'm from Czech republic). I wasn't able to CC yet but I've expanded my "SID" shortly afterward and I started to see the world of guns in an entirely different light and started to learn some skills and develop habits which I didn't need before.

However, this isn't just about my relationship with guns, it's also about my relationship with Germans and Germany. You could say that my dislike for Germans was (I repeat, was) as old as my knowledge of the history of my own country. As I grew older, my dislike for them abated and I've come to realize that that it isn't important what did they do to my country in past but what can their influence mean for Europe, especially for my country and our guns in future. In other words, this film spoke to me on two personal levels. One is the deteriorating political situation in Germany. The other is the attitude of German politicians towards guns. I believe that this film is raising some important points in both regards.

However, there's a third level which I've began to see only after repeated watching and increase in my own aptitude. There's something very important about the gunfight scenes: They have a very high degree of fidelity. It's obvious that Til Schweiger is either a recreational shooter or that he underwent some kind of a crash course. Everything from drawing, shooting, and reloading to using a cover or shooting from various positions. There was even a scene involving an empty shell jammed during ejection. One might say that the shooter took a little bit long to correct the malfunction but let's be honest, I would completely freak out in such a situation (as a matter of fact, such a thing has never happened to me because I'm using guns from Uhersky Brod). I've discussed this film with one of my instructors and he agreed that about 80 percent of the film is accurate.

I don't know why Americans don't bother with this in their films. After all, they have even closer relationship with guns than we do. Maybe that's the reason - the have personal experience with guns and don't need accurate films as a result. They just want to kick their shoes off and watch fairy tales about heroes with absolutely terrible technique.

On a side note, I've found the acting and everything else quite good. The interactions between the Schweigers was simply magical. What does it matter that she's actually his daughter in real life? It's the result that counts!

Except the weird humor here and there this movie is as bland as they come. Extreme shootouts followed by long and repetitive quasi-philosophical conversations numb the viewer to the genre. There are a number of tense moments which you couldn't care less as to how they are resolved. The bad guys are way too bad, the good guys are way too (allegedly) good. The flick is predictive, moralizing, woke, and, no, Germany is not a free country (in response to the girls when she answers "This is a free country" to one of the characters asking her for the remote.) Also too many guns in a German movie while in Germany you need permission from the state to own a BB-gun. Unrealistic even for its stated tribute to Afghanistan veterans. How is this flick a tribute to the veterans remained a mystery to me.

The man (Schweiger) does good work. I would describe it as an action thriller with some typical schweiger-ish sweetness added. The audience gets both impressive action and quiet scenes that change the pace of the movie. I think the mix works. The story is pretty simple and we never have to guess who the villain is. (Much like a Luc Besson movie. Black and white.) This is what I liked about the movie:

One. The cinematography is just beautiful. Carefully filmed scenes with strong (for lack of a better word:) audio effects. Well, it sounds great when people shoot. You'll notice.

Two. The heroes and villains reload their guns and the hero doesn't hit every target with every shot. A trivial detail? Not for me. I hate it when people fire 30 shots with a 15-round clip. Or if their shotguns magically fire 16 times. Thank you Til Schweiger for taking the time to reload! You are one of the few.

Three. The action doesn't try to come off as super cool. We don't see any of that stupid rolling-on-the-floor-while-shooting, jumping-behind-a-couch-in-slow-motion-for-effect, cheesy one-liners, showy re-loadings, bourne-identity-grade-fighting-scenes (everybody is a black belt these days) or cars-exploding-(for no reason)-after-being-shot-at!

Do you know what I mean? 8 is maybe too generous, but a 6 would be too low. Watch it and decide for yourself.

If I didn't have to travel an hour across a border to see this film and then another hour back, I'd go and see it a second time. I really liked it - and there were not many films I went to see twice in a cinema. The only one I recall was one I've seen 11 years ago.

Despite a fairly predictable story and a load of stereotypical stuff you'll see in every other made-in-US movie, it still has o lot to offer and will keep your attention every second of it's length. Realistic characters with nicely presented relationships make the film very emotional, so that some people will even cry. The characters are very likable, their feelings are moving, it recognizes other psychological problems for ex-soldiers than just drinking alcohol. The film is not overloaded with breathtaking CGI, explosions and non-stop brainless action, yet it doesn't get boring at any point. Schweiger invested considerable time and effort in training with weapons under the supervision of professionals, firing thousands of shots. Because of this, you will not see any ridiculous stunts, magazines are reloaded as they should be and there are no stupid dialogs about who is about to die and how. The are also no fill-ins in form of uselessly repeated scenes typical for some low-cost films. The film flows at a more or less constant speed, action scenes changing with non-action dialogs in smaller portions and delivers good value entertainment.

Also, luckily, the typically German personality apparently went on vacation. Maybe it was intentional - to make it more likable in the rest of the world, or because the story was partially written by non-German authors. Whatever. I mean - let's face it: who'd want to watch a 135 minute film loaded with poker-faced old know-better geezers. I thought it deserves a 6, but I so long to see it again, that I guess it should have a 7 for that ...or perhaps an 8?

Chuck Norris is an inferior rip-off of Til Schweiger. Although Chuck Norris started his career before Til Schweiger. But then Til Schweiger decided to change the course of time itself. So there.

What Til and Chuck do have in common, though, is that they both can be entertaining actors, for those good, old kick-back-with-a-beer movies that you shouldn't mention when you're trying to impress a classy chick. They serve, they entertain, they kick ass. However, they don't possess the powers of irony. If you let them produce, write, direct, act and cast their own daughter, then you're in for a long, dark ride. While he was at it, Til Schweiger might as well have called this movie "Til Schweiger Saves The World And All Chicks Want Him". As it was, he strangely limited himself to "Guardian Angel". But the action scenes are a lot of fun. Five mercenaries with automatic rifles blaze into a room with Til Schweiger in it. An unequal fight ensues, and a bad day for the mercenaries begins. Til tilts his gat gangsta style and wastes them all while bullets, plaster and human debris swirl through the air in slo-motion like birds through the rain-forest in Powanisqatsi. Beautiful to watch. My advice would be to simply fast forward to the next, beautifully photographed action scene. Because when the last bad guy has been wasted, Til Schweiger begins to talk, and that means serving up platitudes with a tightened jawbone. If you save another soldier's life, you see, you get a friendship bracelet. And Til could wear a different friendship bracelet "every day of the week". That made me worry about the Bundeswehr.

With a more ironic script, this movie would have been enjoyable in a dumb way. As it is, it's a potpourri of Hollywood action movies from the last 30 years.