The original Watch Out We're Mad was my entry point to the funny but entertaining world of Messrs Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. Subsequent movies comprising the two (or any one of them) became a staple of my growing up years, forming part of the family TV time.
What made the earlier movies work was the fact that Hill and Spencer had equal amount of screen chemistry and charm. This was compounded by their contradicting looks and demeanour, but it also contributed to their onscreen success. Hill with his dashing, handsome-blue-eyed-but-never-naive look, while Spencer's oversized gruff, leave-me-alone counterpart played the foil. Their characters often got together due to circumstances which pulls them into action, usually initiated by half-witted baddies who make the mistake of getting in the way of - and underestimating - our lovable heroes, and end up on the receiving end of some punishing and ridiculous slam-bam, which then provide most of the laughs.
This remake has none of the chemistry between the leads nor the laughs needed to simply sit and laugh our hearts out. The plot is more or less a carbon copy of the original, and both Edoardo Pesce and Alessandro Roja attempt to turn on the individual charms of Spencer and Hill respectively, only to fall flat. Peace could not replicate Spencer's trademark aloofness and Roja of Hill's romantic charm. After awhile it becomes tedious to try and sit through, knowing well that it's gonna be near impossible for the leads to replicate memories that evoke - or even better - of that of Hill & Spencer. Gave up without finishing the movie.
This is where Italian movies could learn from their Hollywood counterpart:- Never try to replicate the genius found in the original; 'tis better to work your way by creating your own charm, even if you do borrow the plot.
