My long and well written review wasn't submitted properly. Hastely I'll leave my frustrations with the movie. To sum up the positives, the characters are, the plot is interesting, the setting is marvelous, the foreign environment is captivating, and the humour is on point.
My frustrations simply are the simplistic ending and the numerous subplots. I would rather have a shorter film if the stronger subplots couldn't be worked on to improve the movie overall.
My biggest gripe is the subplot involving the goat and the Germans. The have a handful of scenes that don't connect to one another and are filled with coincidences that impact the story but could be easily worked around to avoid lazy situations. They are funny the first time they are introduced but in the end they interfere with what would have a been a better way to end the movie. A car race is better than a village scramble.
Also, even though the familial twist doesn't add any layer to the film it didn't annoy me. The drama was needed and wasn't bewildering. The worst is when the characters turn on a whim and exposed for evil but the real impact of their decisions isn't convincingly portrayed.
My frustrations simply are the simplistic ending and the numerous subplots. I would rather have a shorter film if the stronger subplots couldn't be worked on to improve the movie overall.
My biggest gripe is the subplot involving the goat and the Germans. The have a handful of scenes that don't connect to one another and are filled with coincidences that impact the story but could be easily worked around to avoid lazy situations. They are funny the first time they are introduced but in the end they interfere with what would have a been a better way to end the movie. A car race is better than a village scramble.
Also, even though the familial twist doesn't add any layer to the film it didn't annoy me. The drama was needed and wasn't bewildering. The worst is when the characters turn on a whim and exposed for evil but the real impact of their decisions isn't convincingly portrayed.