Mara and the Firebringer

I've been following the development of this movie ever since I read (and fell in love with) the book trilogy and author Tommy Krappweis announced he was going to turn the first volume into a movie himself.

At first, I was very sceptical since I'm generally no big fan of German movie productions, mostly because we have very few convincing actors. Some of the best are assembled in this movie's cast, and though that doesn't automatically add up to a good movie, it did in this one! If I had to say which actor impressed me the most, I really wouldn't be able to decide between Jan Josef Liefers as Professor Weissinger, Christoph Maria Herbst as Loki, and Esther Schweins as Christa Lorbeer. They all did an amazing job bringing the book's beloved characters to life.

Everything about this movie reflects the lifeblood/passion with which Mr. Krappweis has handled both the book trilogy and the movie. The entire story is exciting, dashing, funny, and magical. All aspects of the Norse mythology are well researched and will please every academic on that subject. The characters are multifaceted, especially the Norse god Loki, of course. The visual effects were created under the administration of John P. Nugent, who is best known for his work in Lord of the Rings, Matrix, or Prince Caspian of Narnia.

Mr. Nugent himself has a cameo in the movie, as have several other men who were involved in the making of that movie: Mr. Krappweis' father Werner, professor Rudolf Simek, upon whom the character of "Professor Weissinger" is based, and even Lord of the Rings actor Billy Boyd made a guest appearance in the Mara movie! The great synergy of the story, the cast, the locations and the visual effects is perfectly concluded by a phenomenal soundtrack and a theme song titled "Ein echter wahrer Held" ("A real true hero") which stays in the head for days.

I'm hoping that one day, somebody will do subtitles for the movie so that the English speaking world can enjoy this movie with the entire family as well. It's definitely not only suitable for children but every adult who liked fantasy and/or Norse mythology will be entertained in the best possible way.