00 Schneider - Im Wendekreis der Eidechse

First off, I'm a huge Helge Schneider fan and I love everything he does. Well, everything except for this movie. I tried watching it three times and never made it to the end.

It's like Helge is trying too hard to catch up on his older films like "00 Schneider - Jagd auf Nihil Baxter" or "Praxis Dr. Hasenbein", but it all just seems very forced - especially the jokes. Helge Schneider's work is built on improvisation and subtle humour, obvious jokes are only made now and then. But this film has too many of those obvious jokes, and that doesn't work at all with the concept.

The thing about Helge Schneider is that he never really changed, but it never got boring because he always made something new within this very particular "universe" he has created over the years. And that's when "Im Wendekreis der Eidechse" comes into play. It's the same old Helge aesthetic his fans know and love, but without any fresh aspects.

A huge advantage of the flick is the set decoration/film design/costume part. They bring a lot of nice vintage stuff (many of the items belong to Schneider's personal collection, as far as I know) into the film, and that improves it a lot. And of course, there are some funny scenes/moments. But this film isn't anywhere near the old classics.

Of course one cannot be surprised to find out that this latest Helge Schneider flick is trash, that is what Helge does and did brilliantly in the past.

I was a fan of him in the early 1990s already when Helge was pretty much a nobody to the German public. Truth is you either like Helge or you hate him, same with his films. I admit that I loved the first 00-Schneider in 1994 and also his "Texas" movie. Although both basically only consist of outtakes and bloopers, both films were actually very funny and quotable.

But apparently Helge is not the same Helge anymore - or he does not want to be. "Im Wendekreis" is Helge's latest attempt, scenes once more don't make any sense, offer weird characters and no plot to speak of. But this time it is just not funny. It is a walkout.

Sorry Helge, this one is a fail. Stick to CDs or try harder next time. Additional star for the slo-mo fight at the end.