Rei dos Stonks

I really wanted to like this. It's so original and full of ideas. Speed, energy, great acting, it's all there.

But I just can't connect. I hated these main characters so much, it was painful to watch. At times I had to force myself to watch.

Also, everything is so over the top, that I just stay outside. Exaggerated, but somehow not in a good way. The Mafia people, the Hermann brothers, the politician .... so crude, so unbelievable, such caricatures, that it's just not funny any more.

You know, Wolf of Wall street worked because we are WITH Leonardo DiCaprios characters from the beginning. He starts slow, he slides into it, he is kind and good hearted in the beginn, humble even, and corrupts slowly, by money, by fame, by power. That's what drags us into the film. We could be him, it could happen to us. The americans, rhey know how to do it.

None of that can be found in KOS. These types are crooks from the beginning, liars, arrogant and self-impressed, especially the CEO, you hate his guts from the start, what a pretentious solent prick. I cared for nobody. They could all have been shot or jailed, I couldn't care less.

Sorry guys but storytelling just doesn't work this way.

I felt the story was all over the place, and the editing only emphasized that. It felt chaotic at all times, and the story and the characters are shallow and lacking substance, and I think the producer knows that, so they try to spice it up with fast phasing so that the viewer doesn't get too bored.

Nice touch: in S1E3, Felix looks at a slide deck on his laptop. The scene starts at 00:28, we can see two slides, and the scene is cut 2 seconds later. The funny thing here is that the slides are based on the PowerPoint Slide Master of the company Wirecard (WCD). It cannot be ruled out that the show used original Wirecard-slides. Especially, the 40% CAGR, the world domination map looks all typically Wirecard from the financial year 2016/17. It stands to reason, that someone familiar with the subject and with mischievous ulterior motive used that old template or even a slide deck from that company.

As Episode 1 of "King of Stonks" (2022 release from Germany; 6 episodes of about 47 min each) opens, we are introduced to Felix, the VP of Technology at CableCash, digital payment platform whose biggest client is the provider of porno sites. Felix reports to Magnus Cramer, the CEO with a dubious past. The company is working towards an IPO. What could go wrong?

Couple of comments: this German mini-series is inspired by the true story of Wirecard AG, which unraveled in spectacular fashion a few years ago. "King of Stonks" is immediately reminiscent of "The Dropout", as both startups built a house of cards and then it's just a matter of time to see it all come crashing down. Two thoughts: (1) in a way it's reassuring to see that this happens not just in the US, as it exposes a universal human condition (greed), and (2) I found "The Dropout" to be the slightly better mini-series, resulting from the towering performance of Amanda Seyfried. That said, "House of Stonks" is wildly entertaining in its own right. I can't say that I was familiar with anyone in the cast or in the series production team.

"King of Stonks" premiered on Netflix this week, and all 6 episodes are now streaming. I binged it watching 3 episodes on 2 consecutive evenings. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly it all flew by, a sure sign that enjoyed watching this. If you watched "The Dropout" and liked it, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion, as "King of Stonks" revisits familiar territory but now in a European setting,

Based losely on the story of the biggest german financial Scandal of the Fintech Wirecard (Just google Wirecard.... ) mixed with Wolf of Walstreet elements. Painfully grotesk and extremely entertaining if you know the Back story.