dr.bob

Announced as humorous splatter movie on the DVD cover this sounded like a good film to view on a Friday evening.

The first minutes were quite fun but from there on it went downhill. Jokes were too simplistic and the plot deteriorated so dramatically that we had to switch to fast forward - otherwise we would not have made it through to the end.

Characters were mostly reduced to clichés - or their obvious deconstructions: the alpha guy is really a beta version who did not get enough brains. Well, that's a common caricature completely lacking esprit.

Waste your time on this one only if you are completely out of alternatives. 2 stars for the funny beginning.

For westerners this movie is quite strange. The mixture of fantasy, action and eastern setting creates a dream like scenery in which everything is possible. Take "Tiger and Dragon" and mix in more fantastic scenery and you have a rough idea of this movie. Great stuff that will bring you a totally new viewing experience.

This film stands in line with Thomas Vinterberg's movie "Festen" (aka "The Celebration"). Selma's fight to save her son's eyesight is shown similar impressive as the first dogme movie. Music is only used sparsely in the musical like passages while the "rest" of the movie gains impressiveness through omitted background music. Although you anticipate the plot the movie nevertheless loses its tension. All in all this is a fierce pleading against death penalty and missing public health systems.