Wiplala

So, when I looked the movie up here there wasn't really much to go on, other than that the language was in dutch, and there was an awesome photo. But bored as I usually am, I gave it a chance, with low expectations, non at all actually.

It starts of quietly, but the excitement is there, you are wondering what is gonna happen, and as the movie goes on you cant really see the future as I feel most of the movies these days give you. Which is great, I hate being bored of a movie because I already know what is around the corner.

So this movie was great, I felt the Arrietty vibe but with so much more, I would love to see something like this but maybe with a little more build to it, more background.

See it, totally worth watching. Love love love!

While the American voiceovers use swear words, I am not sure how the original script read. Based on the book by Annie M. G. Schmidt, this film was a treat. I have to buy the book now. As with many Dutch family films, the characters are delightful. Someone must have read Schmidt's book, written in the 1950's, to get the idea for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. I really wish that the distributors would have left the title for this film as The Great Wiplala. Maybe then, there would not be so many negative comparisons. This was wonderful to watch. I want to find the song from this film about birds of a feather, it was great.

Similarly to Sven I had high hopes for this film and just like him I feel that I was left disappointed. The CGI is decent for a European film, but the writing is less than impressive—to say the least. Characters are behaving irrationally and the whole plot is full of illogical twists. Why was it necessary to deviate from the book that much? Also I did not like the choice of the actor to portray Wiplala - in the book he comes across as a nerdy character and younger/slimmer than Géza Weisz is/was.

However, for someone not too familiar with the book it's an acceptable entertainment and non-Dutchies will appreciate the renowned Amsterdam landmarks featured in the film.

Not as bad as I thought it would be, was expecting to give this one about a 3/10. Fun plot, I myself have never read the book however me and 2 other friends watched it and we had a blast. I didn't like some of the poor acting however the music ("How We Belong" to be specific), the lighting, and the CGI/green screen was all quite good! I still don't understand how this is supposed to be a Christmas movie, its more or less a movie with Christmas mentioned every now and then. The actors weren't all that bad however, some of the facial expressions were pretty funny. Overall not too rubbish of a movie, its dubbing however and the closed captioning weren't all that great.

"wannabe wizard can't drive"

What a delightful twist on the classic children's books by Annie M. G. Schmidt! I loved these books growing up, and now my daughter has also fallen in love with them. We both thoroughly enjoyed the movie adaptation too.

While the movie doesn't stick strictly to the original story line (it's set in the present day), I appreciate how it maintains a lively pace and captures the essence of the books while adding a fresh layer on top of it. It strikes a wonderful balance between keeping the excitement alive and weaving in the beloved themes from Schmidt's stories. Perfect family movie in my opinion.