OGBoss

After watching this I feel like I should probably hold my final judgment until I've really seen the finished product. This felt more like a very biased "Favourite Scenes"-compilation from a really really epic and really really awesome movie with the barest minimum of interconnecting scenes, so as to not let the resulting plot holes get too big. I'll be pretty disappointed if there isn't a 4 hour Extended Edition coming out for Christmas, that's for sure...

In some cases this brevity could of course also be interpreted as boldness. It was a bit like the film makers said, look we're not trying to pretend you do not already know this stereotype inside and out so we're not going to bore you with all the typical scenes that traditionally go with this particular character or plot element. Just fill in the blanks yourself. That's kinda cool, I guess...

This movie really did not feel like it did have any fluff at all (the 131 minutes really felt more like 30) - well, except maybe for the side plot with the scientists which, though cool and funny (albeit cartoony), was completely optional (i.e. it would not have made the slightest difference to the ending of the movie if they had simply been edited out).

But there were also so many more *hints* at epic side plots and character back stories, all of which were unfortunately not explored at all.

Also, I found it a bit distracting that the two "quasi-antagonists" (Charlie Hunnam and Robert Kazinsky) look so much alike that you could mistake them for twins sometimes. Especially in the scene where they get into a fight I always caught myself looking at the clothes for distinction which I don't think is a good sign...

As it is now, I would rate the movie 7.7/10 - but the Extended Edition (if it exists) might very well be a 11/10.

Michael Moore once wrote that you could learn everything you needed to know about contemporary America from "Dude, where's my car". This movie does exactly that for early nineties Germany.

Chock full of every single German stereotype (from the inside) you can imagine, and brilliantly played, too. Probably the last truly original and authentic German comedy that was ever made.

People who have not lived in Germany for any significant amount of time or are under 20 or over 60 will probably not get anything at all from this movie but those who are will probably laugh-out-loud enjoy it non-stop.

I would also like to concur with the other commenter who called this movie non-intellectual: This is social satire at its very best, funny as hell completely without having to resort to the depths of fart jokes and the like.

Oh, and did I mention it's highly quotable, too? Those who've seen it will probably be able to lead entire conversations completely comprised of lines from the movie.

I had really been looking forward to this one but it turned out to be a complete train wreck.

The casting of Dustfinger, Capricorn, Meggie and Farid was pretty much perfect, though. Mo was unremarkable, but then that's just how I remember him from the first book. Elinor matched the spirit of the character in the books quite well but the looks were quite off. Fenoglio was so-so.

Basta and Capricorn's mother were ridiculous laughing stock and not inherently fear-inducing as they should have been. Roxane (who is never even fleetingly mentioned in the first book IIRC) had black hair!

The script just rushed through the first 80% of the book in what barely seemed like half an hour, skipping anything that would have helped in either understanding the characters (or even the plot) or building up atmosphere, just to close with a completely tacked-on, contrived new ending that killed any hope for a (better) sequel. It's quite obvious from this that they're not intending to film the other two books or at least not in a way that will have anything at all to do with them.

As rushed as it all felt it was really painful to sit through from quite early on. If I was that type I might have left the theatre half-way through it.

Don't see this if the books meant anything to you!