"Das Gesetz sind wir", which means "We are the Law", is a German television movie that premiered tonight in fact, so this one could not be any newer and fresher really. The director is Swiss filmmaker Markus Imboden and the script is by Holger Karsten Schmidt. I cannot really say anything bad about these two at all. They have worked together on other projects in the past already and I think i liked most of the stuff I have seen by them, especially their Amrum movie. They sure have it when combining crime and comedy and these almost 1.5 hours here are more proof of that. The cast is also pretty nice. The two people you see on the photo here are the lead actors. Do not get confused by the cast list here on imdb. That one is alphabetic, but Heerwagen and Hosemann (still baffled by how much he looks like Scribs' Dr. Cox) are not the two leads. Instead, Julia Koschitz and Aljoscha Stadelmann share the screen for the most part here. Everybbody else is supporting and maybe Merab Ninidze is the one with the most screen time from all the supporting players because he is the main antagonist. By the way, the actor who plays Stadelmann's character's dad is in fact his real dad I believe. You could say that this film is mostly good vs. evil, even if the good guys, i.e. the duo in the lead, must also take a turn for the bad side at times to be able to cope with the scum. The two cops are humiliated early on right away when we see them trying to restore order. People not only constantly run away from them, but also spit at them for example and the result is a broken nose. Big amounts of money play a role too of course and we also get to watch some court proceesings in the middle of the film. Frequently the bad guys simply get away for whatever reason. this needs to stop though, so Koschitz' and Stadelmann's characters play dirty as well. There are grave consequences though. A dog faces the fate that dogs sadly face way too frequently in movies and an old man and one of the the protagonists' significant other is severly injured in a life or death situation.
"This needs to stop" is what the two say to each other and then they go all in against the bad guys. The reuslt is that the second half is much better than the first I'd say, also much more showy. The scene with Koschitz' character and the main antagonist is as thrilling as the scene with Stadelmann's character and the trio of crooks down at the port. By the way, the film is set in Bremen, so people who live there or know the city will maybe see some familiar locations. Sure it is not the most realistic movie, but it makes up in entertainment for that. Of course, it could have been he would not have switched the drink or the guy with the broken nose could have fired at the cop's face. Or the guy who is in control of all the cars could not have fallen for that admittedly slightly ridiculous little charade with which the two protagonists got access too a specific car, namely the car that two other cops use and these cops are paid by the bad guy, so they are corrupt. But they get their fair share too for sure at the end. One of thoes etwo is palyed by Michael Wittenborn, an actor I always like to see in a movie, but here his character was really so minor that he could not make an impact. Still he like almost everybody else is in it for a mix of crime and comedy and he like almost everybody else delivers good quality. The best example of this mix id really when Stadelmann (supposedly dead) rises and shoots the guy with the broken nose in the head. Like it was almost a moment of reincarnation and I was genuinely shocked before that thinking he was actually dead. But this would have been too serious then I suppose, even if I thought it could happen with the violent drama before that and the ways in which humans and animals are violated by the bad guys. Revenge is a dish best served cold though. Also in terms of cold wine. One minor thing I wondered though was when we see the nurse leaving the operating room, it seemed to me that she moved her head in a way where we could think that the patient died, but I guess it was just used to say that the patient is not safe yet. It's alright. I have to look for minor issues here to find something wrong with this movie. Had the first half been a little better, I maybe could have given it even 4 stars out of 5, which would have made it a definite contender for best German film of the year. But this good it is not. Still certainly worth seeing I say. With all the garbage television films from Germany here, it was refreshing to see this one that is pretty much the exception to the rule. Like I said it is still brand new and will definitely be shown many more times in the future. If you get a chance to see it, go for it. I am also a bit baffled how Koschitz is really in all these movies these days. She is truly prolific and still pretty stunning, an okay actress overall, soemtimes good, sometimes not so much. This is definitely one of her better turns, also thanks to the script and direction. So my final praise goes to Imboden and Schmidt and I hope they will make many more films (together) in the future. Only very brief hesitation for me here when deciding if this one deserves the thumbs-up and positive recommendation. It sure does. Maybe it is a bit pointless (even if the message on how police officers really do not get what they deserve is one people should think about), but it's also huge fun. Watch!
"This needs to stop" is what the two say to each other and then they go all in against the bad guys. The reuslt is that the second half is much better than the first I'd say, also much more showy. The scene with Koschitz' character and the main antagonist is as thrilling as the scene with Stadelmann's character and the trio of crooks down at the port. By the way, the film is set in Bremen, so people who live there or know the city will maybe see some familiar locations. Sure it is not the most realistic movie, but it makes up in entertainment for that. Of course, it could have been he would not have switched the drink or the guy with the broken nose could have fired at the cop's face. Or the guy who is in control of all the cars could not have fallen for that admittedly slightly ridiculous little charade with which the two protagonists got access too a specific car, namely the car that two other cops use and these cops are paid by the bad guy, so they are corrupt. But they get their fair share too for sure at the end. One of thoes etwo is palyed by Michael Wittenborn, an actor I always like to see in a movie, but here his character was really so minor that he could not make an impact. Still he like almost everybody else is in it for a mix of crime and comedy and he like almost everybody else delivers good quality. The best example of this mix id really when Stadelmann (supposedly dead) rises and shoots the guy with the broken nose in the head. Like it was almost a moment of reincarnation and I was genuinely shocked before that thinking he was actually dead. But this would have been too serious then I suppose, even if I thought it could happen with the violent drama before that and the ways in which humans and animals are violated by the bad guys. Revenge is a dish best served cold though. Also in terms of cold wine. One minor thing I wondered though was when we see the nurse leaving the operating room, it seemed to me that she moved her head in a way where we could think that the patient died, but I guess it was just used to say that the patient is not safe yet. It's alright. I have to look for minor issues here to find something wrong with this movie. Had the first half been a little better, I maybe could have given it even 4 stars out of 5, which would have made it a definite contender for best German film of the year. But this good it is not. Still certainly worth seeing I say. With all the garbage television films from Germany here, it was refreshing to see this one that is pretty much the exception to the rule. Like I said it is still brand new and will definitely be shown many more times in the future. If you get a chance to see it, go for it. I am also a bit baffled how Koschitz is really in all these movies these days. She is truly prolific and still pretty stunning, an okay actress overall, soemtimes good, sometimes not so much. This is definitely one of her better turns, also thanks to the script and direction. So my final praise goes to Imboden and Schmidt and I hope they will make many more films (together) in the future. Only very brief hesitation for me here when deciding if this one deserves the thumbs-up and positive recommendation. It sure does. Maybe it is a bit pointless (even if the message on how police officers really do not get what they deserve is one people should think about), but it's also huge fun. Watch!
