The Olsen Gang Gets Polished (2010) User Reviews (2)

Loved the old movies. This is amusing and not much more

[policy134 · 3/10 · 23 April 2011]

The gang's exploits in about 13 movies was the biggest and most beloved film series we had here in the small country of Denmark. I am not counting the 14th because it was a disaster on all fronts.

Now here is an attempt to cash in on what once was. I saw it because I am a big fan of animation and the series itself. I won't say that it is a total disaster, but for somebody who didn't know the originals, it must be very confusing and worst of all, not funny.

The only laughs here are that of recognition. For the ones who have never heard of these movies, here is a brief recap. Egon, is a small time crook who always consider himself big time. At the beginning of each movie, we see him and his gang attempting a small caper, usually a burglary of a convenience store or a grocer. Egon is caught and sent to prison while the other two gang members usually escape. Flash forward a couple of months. Egon has a big caper, usually involving some sort of government branch's illegal activities. For the most part the gang succeeds but the gang and especially Egon are usually outsmarted by a rival gang or some sort of corrupt government branch.

The movie retains all of these elements here but the story is extremely uninteresting. The voices are for the most part not very convincing and the animation is a little bit clunky. Fortunately, there are some good spots like the voice of Kjeld. It's a very good imitation of the late Poul Bundgaard.

Too bad that the other voices don't register. One of the funniest moments of the old series was the police involvement or lack thereof in the caper. They knew what was going on but chose to look the other way. Here, they seem utterly clueless and only stumble into the proceedings by accident.

So, for those who wish to get into the Olsen Gang, check out the old movies. It's a mistake to start here.

worst movie ever produced in Denmark

[hr-boege-546-170392 · 1/10 · 4 December 2012]

i enjoy watching the old "olsen banden" movies, they are timeless classics. so it was with big anxiety that i went to watch this one. first the story. well, there is only one word to express my feelings about the story, AAARRRGGHHH!!! yes, its that bad. they took the characters from the 60-80 and put them into modern times, without aging. first of all thats bad continuity, because the last live action movie with the characters was shoot and set in the late 90s, where they were really old. second, the movie is 100% CGI, so they could easily set the movie as either a sequel to the last one, or set it back in the 60-80s, there is no excuse. oh yes there is, they needed an excuse to recycle old plot points from the original movies, and to put in tons of god awful pop-cultural references, of which some already was dated when it first came out. second of all, the voice actors aren't the original (most of natural causes), but there is still one of the actors playing a main character alive. i think the reason why he isn't in the movie, is because he saw the script and went out in a hurry. so again there is no excuse, I'm sure if they had a serious movie in mind, he would have gone into it. so all in all, in my opinion this movie is a stain on the "olsen banden" legacy. many people debate, if it is a movie that belongs in the franchise, or if it is a stand alone (its that bad). in my opinion its a stand alone, because of the missing continuity. and the only reason that it is to be watched, is to teach people how to NOT make a movie, because it definitely is another nail in the coffin of danish cinema, and we cant afford these nails if we want danish movies in the future.