De schippers van de Kameleon

"De schippers van de Kameleon," directed by Steven de Jong, brings the beloved Dutch children's book series to the big screen. The film follows the adventures of twin brothers Hielke and Sietse Klinkhamer, who live in the idyllic village of Lenten.

While the movie captures the spirit of the original books and offers a nostalgic trip down memory lane for fans, it may struggle to engage viewers who are not already familiar with the source material. The plot follows a familiar formula of small-town hijinks and misadventures, with the twins getting into various escapades aboard their trusty boat, the Kameleon.

The performances from the young cast are charming, and the picturesque Dutch countryside serves as a beautiful backdrop for the story. However, the film's pacing can feel sluggish at times, and some scenes may drag on longer than necessary.

Overall, "De schippers van de Kameleon" is a wholesome and entertaining film that will delight younger audiences and fans of the books, but it may not offer much appeal beyond that demographic.

Man, I loved the books of De Roos when I was young. So when they were going to translate them to the big screen, I wanted to see it. But it turned out to be so disappointing... First off, the books are about 4 friends, with the Klinkhamer twins as most important ones, but still... The two other friends are not mentioned at all (Louw) or only very shortly introduced (Kees)... maybe they come around in the second movie (which is scheduled this year). Secondly, there is no mention of hardly any girls in the book. It's quite a boyish experience, I admit... So how could there be a girl almost in the centre of the movie? I don't care if De Jong makes some changes, but this has got *nothing* to do with the books. Another point: how come the role of 'Gerben' being played by Spanjer? Sure, he's funny, but in the books Gerben is like 25 years old, Spanjer is 41... Going on, why does the neighbour has to die so violently? That never happened in the books... it's for children, for God's sake... Then the acting. Ironically, De Jong himself as the father is probably the best as boyish father. The twins... well... can't act. They're young I know, but it almost hurt my eyes how they played. The overacting from characters like the mayor or the officer didn't work as well... Finally, let's talk about the movie :). It's just a silly story about the boys getting their boat, chasing the 'nozems' (now try get a translation for that... ehm... wiseguys?). But that's ok, the movie was just about capturing the memories from when I was about 8-12 years old... but clearly it didn't. Stick more with the story, De Jong! 3/10.

Having read lots of the books in my childhood, it was inevitable that I had to see this movie sooner or later and I wasn't disappointed. It's typically a movie for children (unlike the previously-released Minoes, which had more going for adults), but as an adult it's still very much enjoyable. The story isn't all that much to write home about, I found a lot of the scenes fairly predictable, but as I mentioned before, it's a movie for kids and they will probably enjoy the adventures of the Frisian twins. The addition of a girl to the cast surprised me at first, after all there's no such storyline in one of the books, but it worked out fine, seeing the twins show off in spite of each other to impress her. People that expect a perfect book-translation to the big screen might be disappointed, everybody else who's in for an uncomplicated movie, go see it.

I have to agree on the horrendous casting and the script as well, directing could've been better. The biggest mistake in casting was the Klinkhamer Gerben Zonderland mismatch! Gerben Zonderland should have been cast as Father Klinkhamer and vice versa. Maarten Spanjer as Gerben Zonderland looks much and much too old, while Klinkhamer looks too young. Ester looks too old, certainly with that huge bust! This is supposed to be an 11-12 year old girl!?! And they don't look like their characters either, as were drawn in the books. Neither were the twins, but that's forgivable, it must hard to find twins who can act, are the right age and resemble the book drawings. But I have to say that story and directing were worse. And such drama of the Esther character being orphaned 3 times! This is uncool for a children's movie. Why did he have to die? Other less dramatic, melodramatic solutions were possible. It looked like a Dutch classical movie, very bad. And just when we thought Dutch film had come of age and was professional .... Very big miss and they've really ruined one of my favourite childhood books.

This picture is an excellent copy of the original book. Although the book was written more than 50 years ago the story is still exiting for young boys (and girls) and for the parents that read the book.

The twin brothers Hielke and Sietse Klinkhamer dream of having a boat. When they finally got one it becomes clear that their boat, although being rather ugly, is the fastest of the lake. In the movie the twin get to know Esther, a handsome girl that struggles with the death of her parents. This is a nice touch of the movie, since the book does not involve girls that much.

An excellent Dutch movie with some thrilling parts and a lot of laughs.