"Wir haun die Pauker in die Pfanne" is the fifth of seven films from the German Lümmel series from the 1960s and 1970s. And it runs for 80 minutes only, so 10 minutes shorter than the previous films. And there are more differences. Usually, those films were a collection of pranks with some music, romance and not so serious drama and Hansi Kraus was always in the center of it. He is also in here, but I would say that Theo Lingen is the lead actor in this film and this is actually pretty great as Lingen has a lot more range than the fairly limited young Kraus. It is about doppelgangers, identical twins I should say, and they also includes an animal on several scenes here, an ape, something that has been non-existent in previous films. With the focus on Lingen's character, there is less music in here than usual and also less pranks. but that is not a problem at all as the prank quality has declined a lot since the series started. But there are still funny pranks in here, it is not all bad. I really liked the "Brathering" scenes for example. Other than that, i would say it is different than most of the other films, but quality-wise it is the same level. There are a couple good moments, some not so good and the overall outcome is a decent little comedy movie that is never outstanding, but always entertaining. I recommend the watch and it's nice to see them still deliver quality in a fifth movie. It's something that only rarely occurs. Two films followed. You can check my reviews for these as well if you wonder if this series stayed strong till the very end.
Add a Review
-
Horst_In_Translation3 July 2016
-
J. Steed19 September 1999This is part 5 of the "Lümmel" series, an awful sequel that makes all other parts look like masterpieces. A great deal of the comedy is provided by a chimpanzee in a pink dress that loves garden gnomes, this is of course very hilarious. I could not see any difference between the cast and the monkey with its garden gnomes, though (at last) Theo Lingen has a very funny moment. Lingen (playing twin brothers) has to double himself which asked for some trick cinematography, but even that is executed poorly. With hardly a script present I think that with the chimpanzee in the director's chair there would have been done a better job.