FelNetti96

I write this review from Italy, where the movie was released on November 7th.

I was pretty curious to check it out for all the various reasons many others had already expressed.

And once I ended watching it all I could think was ... Finally They Made It!

Finally they realized a REAL movie in which these characters can show all of their crazy traits in the more genuine way.

The result is a great balance between this more Classic aura (in more senses than you could think) and the more Modern setting.

First of All, the thing I'm sure everyone will agree on: it was so satisfying seeing 2D being used again in a large production, and in a so fluid way that perfectly serves the characters' expressiveness and dynamism, and all of the settings' dimensions.

And speaking of characters, I appreciated the idea of centering it about Porky and Daffy, they're simply the best duo of the Tunes' lot, even though I have to admit I do prefer the Chuck Jones' version of the duck, the more greedy and egotistical one, rather than the complete lunatic one, but it does serve well his job here, so I can't complain.

Porky is just Porky, but he too does pretty well, and I liked the use of Petunia, she was really entertaining in her on way, and her design was really loveable.

The Alien invader too had his moments, his design is maybe simple but pretty efficient, it clearly pays homage to the classic Sci-Fi movies of the 40's, just like the rest of the movie does.

And the thing about the mind-controlling Gum gives life to some images that managed to be both funny and hideous.

So, all in all, a perfect Looney Tunes plot, that to many though may come out as too simple or void of any originality, and while I do agree that they could've been a bit more ambitious in terms of the plot, and that some of the gags don't really work out, I also think that all in all you should take this as a sincere Love Letter to the characters and their legacy, a good way to introduce them to new audiences, and to remember to old fans that this is N-N-N-Not All Folks, yet!

Finnish director Jaimari Helanderin immediately presents us a clear action told in a linear and flowing way, which soon generates an atmosphere mixed between those of Leone and Tarantino, a Western feeling evoked by the wide and desert plains of Lapland, by the division into chapters and by the attitudes of all the characters, to then immerse everything in a violence without restraints and full of the most exaggerated inventiveness.

Obviously all this without reaching the much more studied and refined levels of those two authors, and perhaps lingering too much on the desire to make everything so spectacular and unlikely at all costs, also due to a maybe too bright photography, and by having taken all English-speaking interpreters to play the Germans, making them speak with a cadenced English, another way perhaps to make everything more international.

This is contrasted, however, by the performance of the true protagonist, Jorma Tommila, who without uttering a word conveys the full sense of a man who is alone but far from broken, a warrior ready to unleash all of the fury of a war beast, thanks to an absolutely uncommon strategic brain with which he deceives and strikes his adversaries.

The other members of the cast also play their roles well, with Aksel Hennie in the role of the historical figure of Bruno Helldorf, willing to obtain the gold at any cost, even by deferring to the orders of his superiors and the hesitations of his subordinates, regardless of the real strength of the enemy.

So, all in all an original divertissment full of high-sounding action that demonstrates a great European inventiveness within the genre, but which could also alienate by virtue of its voluntarily exaggerated nature, but no less full of all the most inexhaustible inner strength.

On one part it is to be lauded the bravery of director Mezzapesa to shot everything in Black&Chrome, and to not indulge on the brutality of it, right from the beginning.

And yet, at the same time you can't help but feel how all of this seems to be smashed into your face in a too manneristic way: despite the absence of bright colors, everything's shines in a stylized way, which was undoubtedly researched by the director to convey an epic atmosphere

Another big point that attracted most of the attention was to see the acting debut of singer Elodie, in the role of a lady's boss in a secret affair with the son of the other rival family's Boss.

This is one of those kind of roles that greatly benefits from the already stunning appearance of the actress, but also from the hidden ability to transmit all of the right feelings, from Passion to Pain, due to being the one out of all of them that better knows the weight of her and everyone's actions.

The rest of the cast serves well their roles, starting with Francesco Patanè as male protagonist Andrea, Lidia Vitale as the suffering but firmly tenacious Malatesta matriarch, and great veterans such as Michele Placido as the Boss of a third family which tries to be a peacemaker, and above all Tommaso Ragno as Michele Malatesta, Andrea's father and leader of the Malatesta, who opens the movie in a great way exposing soon the whole nature of it all, and that of a cold but efficient mobster too: too bad that he leaves the scene way too soon, I fear.

The secondary characters too all finely complete the picture thanks to their faces, all so grotesque in perfect symbiosis with the grey look of everything.

So, all in all, the movie does have great moments, especially the dialogues, and doesn't shy away at all from the concrete brutality of the situation, but all of that too often risks to be swayed by the too ambitious style; but still, if you manage to pass through it, it can offer more than it seems.