HenrieSchnee

Well, on one hand it's kind of sad that this has to be the closest thing to a cult movie us Germans have produced during the last decades, but then again, it *is* funny as hell and raises more attention about the dangers of fork-lifts then all the Jaws-movie combined ever did about the dangers of shark-bites.

Which is a good thing, I guess, since fork lifters are gruesome killing-machines disguised as everyday tools - especially the titular fork lifter shown in this film. Who would have thought?

Another interesting trivia about this movie is the narrator, Egon Hoegen: For decades, this guy narrated the educational TV-show "Der siebte Sinn" ("The seventh sense") about the safety and regulations of everyday public driving. So, most Germans are familiar with his distinct voice, which makes his dry remarks after each brutal accident even more hilarious. This is not the first time, Hoegen used his distinct voice for the sake of comedy; he also narrated the propaganda-pieces in the German dub of "Starship Troopers", giving them an even crazier, authoritative feel.

Given it's short length (about 10 minutes, including end credits), I really don't see a reason why you shouldn't give this film a chance. Maybe it will even receive a fan-dub one day, so English-speaking audiences will also benefit from the insightful informations provided here.

I guess you can watch it online somewhere, but there once also was a really, really nice DVD of this movie, which compensated the relative short length of the main feature by a sheer abundance of bonus-features, easter eggs and background-information. And it was cheap as hell! Try to get that one!

There really isn't much to criticize about this film: The Egyptian-American cast works together like clockwork. The film starts in medias res; we witness a bomb suicide-bomb explode somewhere in Egypt, more or less accidentally killing a not so innocent CIA-operative who happened to be stuck in a nearby traffic jam. Having lost "one of their own", the CIA decides to retaliate, using it's illegal contacts to torture one of our protagonists, who might or might not have background information on the matter.

It's the kind of movie that works better the less you know about it when you pop it in; and I guarantee you that at the end of the third act you will pause the movie and try rearrange all the puzzle-pieces in your head. The movie is one step ahead of you all the time, and it has a couple of surprising and cleverly written plots all intertwined in a way that gives you a very "global" perspective of the subjects ramifications (in the tradition of "Traffic" or "Syriana"), but unlike those other meandering movie abominations, it still delivers to bring the story to a dramaturgical climax that pays off.

I give it 8 out of 10 stars, which is my way of saying that it is a very, very good movie, but not the best that was ever done about the subject - it still feels like there's still a lot to say about the crimes committed by the US in wake of the 9/11-hysteria. Yet there are three lines of dialogue early on that sum it up pretty good: Discussing whether the suspect is a terrorist or just a poor guy that got mixed up in something way bigger, a CIA-executive reports to his commanding officer "Well, he has passed the lie detector" - she answers "Well, that doesn't really mean dizzle now, does it?", to which he replies in silent sarcasm "We always say that when they pass..."

If you have a Sunday afternoon to spend, go watch this movie. Take it serious for the subject matter, be prepared to read subtitles and learn something about the way this world unfortunately works.

After watching this agonizing piece of Hollywood-trash from start to finish, I really feel like writing a loooong, elaborate, eloquent rant, warning others not to repeat my mistake, not to give this deceitful flick a chance at the movie store, to not even think about downloading it without paying for it - just to stay away and ignore it for what it is; a shameless meditation of self-pity and unprocessed childhood-traumas.

But what can I say that hasn't been said on the first few pages of this very site?

About halfway during the movie, my girlfriend and I started to argue, whether this really should be rated for children of the age of 6 and above (as it is here in Germany), for all the already mentioned reasons: The movie being depressive, violent, self-absorbed, menacing; and more so the main character being a scary and maladjusted loner acting like he is 5 years old and who implicitly suffers from ADD and a vaguely dysfunctional family life. But I argued that this movie would be best suited for children UNDER the age of 6, those who would never be able to figure out the barely hidden agenda of this movie. Under a certain age, kids don't have a radar for the sad and tragic sides of life like death, the lasting damages of violence... or the self-destructive surreality of a mentally handicapped main characters search for inner peace.

My point being: SERIOUSLY, if you want to make a dark, depressing, moody film *about* children, fine with me. But please don't hide that behind the name of a book *for* children. Don't let an omnipresent PR campaign fool parents into thinking that this might be just the new cute thing for them to see with their kids.

I mean, come on! I as the audience feel cheated into watching a existential angsty meditation that some supposed "hot shot genius director" conjured up while snorting coke from the pages of random storybooks... And I blame the studio system for allowing this to be promoted in a deceiving fashion. It is as after they watched the final cut, they suddenly realized how much money this guy has just wasted on this bloated piece of trash... so they tried to cut their losses. I understand that they even insisted on changing many scenes, resulting in a lot of pick-up shots and a year long delay.

Jesus... I wonder how downright evil that first cut must have been.

So, anyway, if you feel like watching this, for... whatever reasons... at least do yourself a favor and watch it dubbed in a language that somehow sounds funny to you. A language that you don't understand.

There are some good things to say about the movie (hence the 2 points), for one, the namesake Wild Things are really fun to watch, their animation is one of those rare cases where CGI can really work as an art form - instead of just being an insufficient tool to replicate reality. And second, the acting of the main actor is decent. I mean, you hate that little brat immediately, but that's just how good he plays that part. The problem is just that he is way to old, he looks like 10 or 11, yet his character functions on a pre-school level.

You know what... writing all of this down I really begin to wonder if this whole flick wasn't just a big corporate sponsored propaganda piece in favor of expensive child psychiatry... I don't have children, but I think this movie firmly planted to idea into my subconscious that Ritalin truly is the solution to aaaaaaall a kids problems.