This film takes on a well known and loved brand, and then uses it to create a completely different fantasy, hence the disappointment of so many viewers.
In the source material Tomasz NN is almost the epitomy of "the grey man": he is supposed to be boring, unassuming, blend into the background and come across as a bit of a fuddy daddy. His biggest advantage over his opponents is that they always, always underestimate him, and he plays that card for as long as he can. The man comes across as if he has no ego or ambition: whilst his opponents and rivals boast of status symbols (often difficult to come by in communist Poland) his biggest achievement is working at a museum.
The only thing that stands between him and being the grey man is his car which draws attention wherever it turns up. Tomasz inherited the car from his uncle, an amateur inventor and mechanic. The car is ugly, bizarre and invites mockery but it holds a powerful secret, just like Tomasz who hides intelligence, charm and a fair bit of altheticism under his unassuming exterior. Tomasz is a kind soul who looks after his boy scout friends, just like they look after him. Each book has a strong female character with a lot of agency, though viewed through a feminist lens (which I have nothing against) they probably suffer from being a male fantasy rather than a representation of womanhood.
The film presents us with an obnoxious, self centred, childish character who is supposed to evoke both Indiana Jones and James Bond. His car is a cute-ugly, rat monster truck, something that plenty of people could see as cool.
Poland in the film is a land of the 1960s USA's cultural landscape with some local props thrown in, so hopefully viewers will not treat this film as a way to find out anything about Poland and its history.
For people who grew up reading and loving these books, this film has nothing to offer. However, it is decently shot with more than adequate production value (hence 3 stars) so if you didn't read or love the books you might enjoy this story. For me it was neither Pan Samochodzik (Mr Car), nor James Bond, nor Indiana Jones and I didn't enjoy it so I gave up half way.
