Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Urmel aus dem Eis" or "Impy's Island" is a German movie from 2006, so this one had its 10th anniversary last year and is based on the possibly most famous story of the Augsburger Puppenkiste. For that one from several decades earlier, it is all about string puppets, but this new take on the story is all about the animation. Okay, it may not be Pixar, but it is pretty decent overall I would say. Same goes for the voice acting. They actually got a few well-known comedians/actors on board here, at least to German audiences. I am talking about Boning, Engelke, Völz, Herbst and Pocher. Oh yeah, and Oscar winner Hans Zimmer worked on the score, so this really shows you that we have a fairly prestigious project here. I believe the original Urmel mini-series became a bit weaker towards the end and this is maybe true here as well with the rescue mission and all. But I believe nonetheless that this was a good watch overall. I see the rating here is not that brilliant, but I guess many people who love the original just gave it a thumbs-down without giving it a chance even. That's a bit pathetic. I personally am not shy to say they did a good job here overall and I liked this even more than the original because this is our generation's approach, the modern take on the subject of the old film that has not aged too well. I guess audiences liked this relatively short film too (comfortable under half an hour and this already includes the ending credits) because they made a sequel that has nothing to do with the original story though. But the sequel is decent too. I would not have minded a third film, but looking at the time that has passed since the second film I guess it is not gonna happen. Back to this first film we have here, it is a thumbs up from me. Voice acting, story-telling and animation are all on a level that I liked. Greatness? No. Goodness? Yes. Probably more appropriate for children than for adults. Go see it with your kids perhaps.
