This movie was based on the popular kid show "Samson & Gert", about an unemployed man and his dog living together and having nothing to do all day except ending up in situational comedy. I really loved that show. The premise might have been somewhat thin, but the funny stories and the somewhat surreal acting made it a true classic. I was always under the impression that a movie about this show could only be awesome, but sadly I was proved wrong by this failure. The way I see it, they made two mistakes: the first one is that they spent too much money. Perhaps that doesn't make any sense, but this movie really looks way too expensive. I'm used to the sets trembling and shaking whenever someone opens a door, I'm used to Samson having the motor skills of Stephen Hawking. Now all of a sudden there's action happening all over the place (what's with all the useless camera trickery?) and Samson walking around like he's rabid or something. They also provided Alberto with a fatsuit this time around, sadly it's the most disgusting fatsuit ever captured on celluloid. Jesus, just use pillows. The second reason this movie isn't very good is because they waited too long to make it. If you can't get the original voice actor to play Samson, don't make the movie. Instead they just opted for a distractingly horrible replacement that just makes you want to yell "you're not Samson!" at the screen for minutes straight. That could get you awkward stares in the theatre though. Another bothering aspect about this movie are the completely unfunny villains. The writers of "Samson & Gert" have a talent for writing amusing side characters, I guess they just decided not to use it for the occasion. For shame. It's not all bad though, I like how they handled some elements of the show, like the use of Marlene and the clever takes on the catchphrases. The recurring characters from the show are also still extremely likable. But that just doesn't really manage to save the movie, sadly.
3 Reviews
Ruined Nostalgia
jarne-van-vooren27 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
When I was a kid, I loved the Samson & Gert series. Sure, the stories weren't great, but it was for kids and it really entertained me. When I heard they were making a movie out of it, I thought that it'll go wrong. And sadly, I was right.
It begins with Samson & Gert (obviously) in their childhood and from the look of it, and I apologize in advance because I don't know that much about fashion, the end of the fifties and the beginning of the sixties. They are at the hotel of Gert's girlfriend, Marlene. At that moment, two thieves who've stolen a diamond run from the cops into Gert. The two thugs put their diamond in Gert's ball and get caught. The ball stays in the basement of the hotel. Many years later, the hotel is closed and it's going for demolition. Marlene doesn't want that and calls up Gert to help her. Gert and his friends decide to build the hotel up again. But the crooks are escaped after 20 years (and barely aged) and want their diamond back.
With such a premise, you'll expect something simple targeted at younger kids. You are right. But the problem is that this is an adaptation of a popular kids show. So I'm speaking for the nostalgic fan crowd. The biggest problem is that they didn't put any effort into making this movie. The fact that this is a kid movie is not an excuse. There are great kid movies out there, but this is not one of them. It is only made to make money with its brand.
The story is cobbled from other stories. The plot where the crooks put the diamond in the ball is ripped of from the Belgian comic "De Jacht op een Voetbal" from 1959. In it, a butler puts a will in a boy's soccer ball ("coincidentally", the ball in the movie looks the same as the one from the comic). I'm not going into detail, but after a while, the boy has to protect the ball from other crooks who are hunting the ball with the will. It practically is the same plot, and in the second half, they rip off the traps from "Home Alone". The crooks fall comically and get beaten by a man and his talking dog.
The jokes are not funny. Sure, you may laugh at them first, but when you apply logic to them, they fail miserably. an example is a scene where the barber, Albert (Alberto), had to dye old ladies hair. Yet he dyed them green, because he was hungry. How does being hungry make you colorblind or apply the wrong color in general?
The prime cast have not aged well. In the original show, they played adults acting like kids, this being a kid show. Due to the actors age, they come across as pathetic. And at points, acting like douche bags. The other actors... well... They are completely chewing the scenery. The crooks are not funny, not smart and barely a threat (except if you are one of Samson and Gert's friends). Plus one of them has weird dentures. I can't describe it well, but it made me think of Jaws from the James Bond movies. It is never addressed however why he got these dentures and it is very distracting.
In short, is this movie good. For your kid, yes. For an adult, no. It has too many problems and it won't satisfy your inner nostalgia.
It begins with Samson & Gert (obviously) in their childhood and from the look of it, and I apologize in advance because I don't know that much about fashion, the end of the fifties and the beginning of the sixties. They are at the hotel of Gert's girlfriend, Marlene. At that moment, two thieves who've stolen a diamond run from the cops into Gert. The two thugs put their diamond in Gert's ball and get caught. The ball stays in the basement of the hotel. Many years later, the hotel is closed and it's going for demolition. Marlene doesn't want that and calls up Gert to help her. Gert and his friends decide to build the hotel up again. But the crooks are escaped after 20 years (and barely aged) and want their diamond back.
With such a premise, you'll expect something simple targeted at younger kids. You are right. But the problem is that this is an adaptation of a popular kids show. So I'm speaking for the nostalgic fan crowd. The biggest problem is that they didn't put any effort into making this movie. The fact that this is a kid movie is not an excuse. There are great kid movies out there, but this is not one of them. It is only made to make money with its brand.
The story is cobbled from other stories. The plot where the crooks put the diamond in the ball is ripped of from the Belgian comic "De Jacht op een Voetbal" from 1959. In it, a butler puts a will in a boy's soccer ball ("coincidentally", the ball in the movie looks the same as the one from the comic). I'm not going into detail, but after a while, the boy has to protect the ball from other crooks who are hunting the ball with the will. It practically is the same plot, and in the second half, they rip off the traps from "Home Alone". The crooks fall comically and get beaten by a man and his talking dog.
The jokes are not funny. Sure, you may laugh at them first, but when you apply logic to them, they fail miserably. an example is a scene where the barber, Albert (Alberto), had to dye old ladies hair. Yet he dyed them green, because he was hungry. How does being hungry make you colorblind or apply the wrong color in general?
The prime cast have not aged well. In the original show, they played adults acting like kids, this being a kid show. Due to the actors age, they come across as pathetic. And at points, acting like douche bags. The other actors... well... They are completely chewing the scenery. The crooks are not funny, not smart and barely a threat (except if you are one of Samson and Gert's friends). Plus one of them has weird dentures. I can't describe it well, but it made me think of Jaws from the James Bond movies. It is never addressed however why he got these dentures and it is very distracting.
In short, is this movie good. For your kid, yes. For an adult, no. It has too many problems and it won't satisfy your inner nostalgia.
To be measured by the laughter of a kid
LazySod5 May 2008
An international title for this Flemish spoken film might be "Panic in the Hotel". A literal translation for the title is "hotel on stilts" but that doesn't do the Dutch expression used in the title any good. Anyway, this is the first cinema film based around the characters of the Belgian children's series Samson en Gert in which the guy Gert living with his dog Samson goes to a series of adventures together with some of the other people in the city and it is in fact somewhat better than the average episode of the series.
The film starts when Gert's girlfriend Marlene calls to tell him her hotel is going to be demolished if it isn't repaired within a week. Gert, of course, wants to help out and brings everyone he can to the hotel to help out. Next to this red line of the story there are two crooks that have stolen a diamond some twenty years earlier and have hidden that in the hotel, and that want to get it back out again.
Being a children's film it never gets any more hair raising then doing groceries on an average day but it worked for the kid and thus it worked for me. The kid I took to see this film likes the series it is based on, and absolutely loved this film. No doubt due to the plethora of slapstick moments in it that are also prevalent in the series.
It's clearly no great work in the world of cinema, but for it works wonders for its projected audience - the kids.
8 out of 10 diamonds in the rough
The film starts when Gert's girlfriend Marlene calls to tell him her hotel is going to be demolished if it isn't repaired within a week. Gert, of course, wants to help out and brings everyone he can to the hotel to help out. Next to this red line of the story there are two crooks that have stolen a diamond some twenty years earlier and have hidden that in the hotel, and that want to get it back out again.
Being a children's film it never gets any more hair raising then doing groceries on an average day but it worked for the kid and thus it worked for me. The kid I took to see this film likes the series it is based on, and absolutely loved this film. No doubt due to the plethora of slapstick moments in it that are also prevalent in the series.
It's clearly no great work in the world of cinema, but for it works wonders for its projected audience - the kids.
8 out of 10 diamonds in the rough
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