(Review originally written at 12 August 2005)
To me this movie was a nice little surprise, I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. The movie is fun and adventurous and surpassed my expectations on several fronts.
The movie is cleverly written by Gerard Soeteman who manages to put in some good jokes and funny witty dialog. Soeteman also was responsible for writing all of Paul Verhoeven's Dutch movies and the TV-series "Floris" starring Rutger Hauer on which this movie is based. Of course this movie is nothing like the black & white TV-series from the late '60's that launched the career for both actor Rutger Hauer and director Paul Verhoeven but than again, this movie doesn't pretend to be like the TV-series. The movie is set in a different time-period and even though all of the characters are meant to be granddaughters and grandsons of the original characters from the TV-series, this movie and its characters feel good and original on its own. It's like all the characters had gotten a modern refreshing remake. The villains are deliciously stereotypical evil, dumb and just totally over-the-top. Yes, the movie does also feature a love-story but in this case it is totally not distracting at any moment and is handled nicely.
This movie has Dutch written all over it. I mean when persons are fighting in a mill while they are throwing cheeses at each other, you know you're watching a movie set in The Netherlands. Also of course weed is a thing not to be missed in a Dutch movie, this one included. Most of the jokes are 'inside jokes' that I'm sure only Dutch adults will notice and appreciate but I seriously laughed out loud at some moments. I think an international audience will not appreciate this movie as much as Dutch people will.
The story is simple so that also the young ones will be able to follow and appreciate this fun adventurous movie. The fights and sword fights might be a bit of a disappointing thing of the movie but all the fun characters and the cleverly written jokes compensate for this and make you forget the weak story and the just totally ridicules moments. I enjoyed this movie from start to finish and was pleasantly surprised by it all.
Another thing that surely surpassed my expectations was the acting. Especially Michiel Huisman, Victor Löw and Daan Schuurmans were truly excellent! I truly enjoyed their performances in this movie. It's quite unique for me to say that I enjoyed persons acting performances in a Dutch movie, so I think that says a lot about this movie!
Even though it is notable that this movie hasn't got a major budget, the movie stills manages to create a little epic feeling, due to the nice and beautiful settings. It gives the movie a wonderful adventurous feeling and atmosphere.
(especially towards the Dutch people here) You should give this movie a chance! It really surprised me how incredible lighthearted fun this movie was. Fun adventurous entertainment from start till finish!
7/10
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