Now, I understand that this film was quiet a hit in its native Spain and realize that (like the comic) it is considered a bit of a national treasure among comic-book-aficionados, like "Asterix" in France and "Tintin" is in Belgium. But that movie or that comic – namely "Mortadelo y Filemon" is not what I'm going to talk about.
I'm going to talk about "Clever & Smart", which is the German title and boy, did they ever butcher that one! The comic was previously rather popular in Germany; mainly during the 1980's until the appeal eventually wore off as the material became more repetitive. It didn't (and didn't strive) to have the intellectual qualities of the series said above. If you're not familiar with the basic story: it's basically a satire of the secret-agent-genre, with two incompetent but sheer indestructible protagonists, said Mortadelo and Filemon. Mortadelo is the more anarchist one of this duo, being able to disguise himself as virtually everything at will, but at the same time the more simple-minded part, despite Filemon not being an intellectual giant either. Filemon is his more rational partner, usually grumpy and seeing himself as the leading man, despite usually bearing the brunt whenever his partner messes up (which is usually the case). Now imagine an episode of "Tom & Jerry". Not the squeaky-clean version of modern times, but the originals, where cat and mouse still fought each other tooth and nail, inflicting more damage and pain to each other than would physically be possible and still continuing the chase – alive and well – two seconds later. And now multiply that by a hundred. There's barely a panel in the comic where somebody involved doesn't get maimed, flattened by steam-rollers, blown up or otherwise mutilated. Rule of thumb being of course, that in the next panel they're up and about as if nothing happened.
Granted, to turn this massive orgy of (comical) menace and destruction into a real-life-action movie prior to the new century and CGI would have been virtually impossible – and if attempted, it would have been way more expensive and labor-intensive than most companies could afford. Granted also, that the computer-animation of 2003 wasn't exactly on par with modern standards nowadays, but it sufficed to turn the comic carnage into a real film. The problem is this: since the source-material was already relatively light when it came to complex story lines, relying almost entirely on slapstick and one-liners, it must have been difficult to stretch this thin material into an hour and a half of film. But, as said, one can watch it for the effects if one is willing to forgive the lack of a deeper story. But I have to give it to the producer: optically both our "heroes" couldn't have been better cast and I dare say, from all the comic-adaptations I've seen – which have been plenty – none have fitted a shoe as perfect as Mortadelo and Filemon.
Now we get to the reason why this film went completely flat in Germany: somebody in marketing saw it as a wise decision to cast the "comedic" (if you want to call it that) duo Erkan & Stefan as the voice-overs for the two agents. If you've never heard of them and/or are not German, nevermind, you haven't missed a thing. The duo makes a living imitating street- and ghetto-kids (one reason why one has adopted a Turkish name), who imitate the demeanor and attire of teen, wannabe hip-hoppers and their comedic repertoire consists mainly of grimacing and pretending that they only have a semi-illiterate grasp of the language. In short: they play morons who imitate the same crowd whom they cater to. Need I mention that many potential viewers either left the cinema as soon as they heard Mortadelo and Filemon "speak" – and that many more simply refused to enter the cinema in the first place? Perhaps the movie would have a chance if they would simply re-synchronize it with competent speakers (which are aplenty; Germany is known to have developed synchronizing movies into an art of its own), but until that happens, the fate of this movie is to lie on the 1-Euro shelves of dying video-stores and grab-shops – and they'll probably lie there for a long time to come. In that form I'd give it 4/10 and would consider it generous.
I'm going to talk about "Clever & Smart", which is the German title and boy, did they ever butcher that one! The comic was previously rather popular in Germany; mainly during the 1980's until the appeal eventually wore off as the material became more repetitive. It didn't (and didn't strive) to have the intellectual qualities of the series said above. If you're not familiar with the basic story: it's basically a satire of the secret-agent-genre, with two incompetent but sheer indestructible protagonists, said Mortadelo and Filemon. Mortadelo is the more anarchist one of this duo, being able to disguise himself as virtually everything at will, but at the same time the more simple-minded part, despite Filemon not being an intellectual giant either. Filemon is his more rational partner, usually grumpy and seeing himself as the leading man, despite usually bearing the brunt whenever his partner messes up (which is usually the case). Now imagine an episode of "Tom & Jerry". Not the squeaky-clean version of modern times, but the originals, where cat and mouse still fought each other tooth and nail, inflicting more damage and pain to each other than would physically be possible and still continuing the chase – alive and well – two seconds later. And now multiply that by a hundred. There's barely a panel in the comic where somebody involved doesn't get maimed, flattened by steam-rollers, blown up or otherwise mutilated. Rule of thumb being of course, that in the next panel they're up and about as if nothing happened.
Granted, to turn this massive orgy of (comical) menace and destruction into a real-life-action movie prior to the new century and CGI would have been virtually impossible – and if attempted, it would have been way more expensive and labor-intensive than most companies could afford. Granted also, that the computer-animation of 2003 wasn't exactly on par with modern standards nowadays, but it sufficed to turn the comic carnage into a real film. The problem is this: since the source-material was already relatively light when it came to complex story lines, relying almost entirely on slapstick and one-liners, it must have been difficult to stretch this thin material into an hour and a half of film. But, as said, one can watch it for the effects if one is willing to forgive the lack of a deeper story. But I have to give it to the producer: optically both our "heroes" couldn't have been better cast and I dare say, from all the comic-adaptations I've seen – which have been plenty – none have fitted a shoe as perfect as Mortadelo and Filemon.
Now we get to the reason why this film went completely flat in Germany: somebody in marketing saw it as a wise decision to cast the "comedic" (if you want to call it that) duo Erkan & Stefan as the voice-overs for the two agents. If you've never heard of them and/or are not German, nevermind, you haven't missed a thing. The duo makes a living imitating street- and ghetto-kids (one reason why one has adopted a Turkish name), who imitate the demeanor and attire of teen, wannabe hip-hoppers and their comedic repertoire consists mainly of grimacing and pretending that they only have a semi-illiterate grasp of the language. In short: they play morons who imitate the same crowd whom they cater to. Need I mention that many potential viewers either left the cinema as soon as they heard Mortadelo and Filemon "speak" – and that many more simply refused to enter the cinema in the first place? Perhaps the movie would have a chance if they would simply re-synchronize it with competent speakers (which are aplenty; Germany is known to have developed synchronizing movies into an art of its own), but until that happens, the fate of this movie is to lie on the 1-Euro shelves of dying video-stores and grab-shops – and they'll probably lie there for a long time to come. In that form I'd give it 4/10 and would consider it generous.