User Reviews

René Marik is one of the most famous German puppeteers and comedians. After entertaining audiences for years with his mole, polar bear and frog puppets, he's finally made his first movie. And here, it's all about the puppets again. The main comedic aspect is they look like puppets, but if you didn't see them, judging from their dialogs and actions, you could easily mistake them for humans.

There's also humans in this film, but the center are clearly the puppets, mostly voiced by writer-director René Marik himself. In the center there's a group of rather unsuccessful theater actors who can't come up with the rent anymore, so they decide to abduct the star puppet from another theater and release him for a huge sum of money. Obviously things don't go as planned in the slightest.

My main motivation to watch this film was Christoph Maria Herbst. He has the central role in the German version of The Office which I'm a great fan of. His comedic timing is usually brilliant, which doesn't help as he plays a ruthless criminal without the slightest ounce of humor in this one. Still I felt he gave the best performance from the whole cast.

Another thing that needs to be said is that this is not suitable for children at all. Lots of violence and profanity are included from start to finish. I respect Marik and his decision to adapt his show for the big screen and I'm sure those who donated to this movie, which was financed considerably via crowd-funding, had a great time watching, but sadly I thought it looked really amateurish in large parts and the story simply wasn't compelling enough. The one thing I can't deny it, however, is definitely that the whole premise and execution is truly unique.

Yes. I too was expecting a movie about Rene Marik's famous creature "De Maulwurfn" (a blind, slightly choleric mole string puppet with a speech impediment) which went viral due to Marik's flawless, never seen before puppeteer qualities. And no, this isn't the movie I was expecting because it features something different, something other than "just" De Maulwurfn (dont get me wrong, I couldn't love this tiny fluffy bundle more!)... It features something that most of the population have already forgotten about and just don't seem to be able to appreciate: A complete puppet theater brought to life by the master of puppets Rene Marik. The moment you realize that you're not gonna see a movie entirely about De Maulwurfn, but that Marik is about to open a completely new world for you, you're gonna be hooked. By his perfection of puppet play, by the beautifully arranged and executed scenery, by the puppets that are literally becoming alive in front of your eyes. Look at it with a different expectation, and you won't be disappointed. Try to enjoy the wonders of puppet play that only Marik can really put to this level of perfection. Have an open mind and acknowledge what he is able to do with a bit of plush, wood and strings. You won't regret it.