Bob et Bobette: Le diamant sombre

It has been so many years since the release of this film, so it is time to give this movie an unbiased view. And honestly it is cool that there is a film. But you will note very quickly that trying to cater to a VERY young crowd. Which takes away from the story and also not catering to a wise audience. Adult themes are watered down. It would have been better to focus on 8-14. Back in the day there were puppet interpretations of the stories and that worked fine for all ages.

But let's begin, from the get go, aunt Sidonia is unbearable she is just an annoying fill character. And whilst in the series she is bit odd, here she doesn't have a role at all, just being weird... Lambic also is just a caricature of himself. Instead of a foolish middle aged man. Here at the beginning he is just a fool.

The film does pick up after 7min of intro. And after 20mins one famous character is introduced which picks up the story.

Summary, it's an OK watch for the fans. A sequel would do well with a bit more budget and aunt Sidonia please be played by a woman and please do Schanulleke right, her look was an utter mess. How easy is it to create her... Jerome is going to be tough to have in a future film, but there is one joke where is running to charge power and it really had me laughing out loud.

WHO AM I (background on the reviewer) So as a kid born in 1984 this was my #1 favourite comic. I own 150+ stories of the main series (including a lot of special editions) and even though the stories weren't as cool in the last 15 years (when they made the themes current and less fairytale) Suske and Wiske will always be special to me. Unfortunately the series made me stop reading when they started to reduce the story back in amount of pages. The spirit seemed gone. But I saw the Tintin movie and it brought to watch this movie.

Yesterday I saw this movie on DVD.

First thing that I've noticed: this story is completely incomprehensible if you did not read the comic-book! The story is told in a very amateurish way, which makes it sometimes difficult to follow. Of course: if you have read the book, you can fill in the missing parts. If you haven't read the book: good luck in trying to understand the story.

Or let's say the details in the story.

This is really a pity since the actors are doing a great job. Especially Stany Crets as Jerommeke is great!

Another complaint: I have never seen such unprofessional rubbish on a DVD as extra. Not much extra on the DVD, only the making of. first 10 minutes are great and you can have a look behind the scenes. But then you as spectator are treated on a movie-clip which I only can describe as some kind of camcorder record: a 3 minutes shot of a door ?? Shots filmed when the camera was supposed to be switched off (so, you see floor and ceiling). This made my DVD experience quite special I must see ;-)

conclusion: the actors did a great job, even the special effects and decors were OK. Unfortunately a bad director and bad cut totally kills this movie experience. If you have the DVD there is an unforgettable "extra" which is so bad, one have to see it to believe it.

When you start seeing this movie, remember: It's a kids movie

The actors are dressed up just as in the comics accept for the strange noses or 6 strings of hair like Lambik. This gives a familiar feeling and must let the viewers feel comfortable.

The actors do their best and I got the feeling they enjoyed themselves. The comic they followed to make this movie isn't the best or the most spectacular one in the series, but is one of the easiest to film because it's a story on itself and doesn't refer to things that have passed in other Suske en Wiske comics.

Because this film is a kids film, just like the comics are for kids, the story is kept simple and has a fast opening where Wiske immediately starts to suspect there is something going on. I as a 24 year old enjoyed this film nonetheless. It has its funny moments and seeing Barabas and Teletijdmachine as well as the jeep where they always use too travel with in the comics gave me a nostalgic feeling. It's good they didn't change too much on the environment, characters and objects. The 1,5 hour is just long enough to don't get bored.

I think the kids will enjoy this film, especially if they are familiar with the comics.

I think it's impossible to make a truly good movie, enjoyable for both children and adults, of the suske and wiske-comic books. The stories of this happy duo are just not cut out to be played by real actors of flesh and blood. Characters such as Lambik, Aunt Sidonia or Professor Barabas are funny in the comics, but if real actors play them they are dumb, irritating and slightly childish. This being said, I must add that the movie also has its good points. It does have that same nice atmosphere that marks the comic books and for the fans it's nice to see the universe of S&W come to live. And it has fair special-effects for a Belgian/Dutch product. Okay, it doesn't have the quality of the Harry Potter-movies, but that level simply is unreachable.

I'd recommend this movie to the real hardcore S&W-fans, the rest of the movie lovers shouldn't even try it.

I think they did a nice try at filming an episode of the (in the Dutch language area) famous comic series "Suske en Wiske", but perhaps tried to stay too close to the scenes in the comic itself, which might be hard to film.

On the positive side there is the scenery: they picked real nice locations for the films, giving it a nice atmosphere. Suske and Wiske are played quite decent. Wiske appears a bit older than you would expect from the comic books. As said, they tried to stay very close to the comic itself, which makes a nice story.

A definitive downside is the actor(!) playing Tante Sidionia. Why they casted a man to play this female role may remain a mystery, but a man speaking in falsetto utterly fails in putting anything other than a weak parody on the screen.

Another downside is the quality of the action scenes, which appear clumsy.

It's a nice movie to rent and watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon with the kids.