Overrated

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Blistering performances.

And this refers to the fact that almost nobody from the cast and crew of this film is still working prolifically in their respective fields. This includes especially writer and director Johannes Jaeger, who made this 100-minute movies based on a short film he wrote earlier in his career. This includes lead actor Mathis Landwehr as well, who is clearly a casting decision in terms of looks over talent. There were a couple situations in here when he was bearable and that was thanks to the supporting actress being even less talented. However, as bad as the acting in here may be, it has nothing on the abysmal writing, especially the dialogs. Good lord, a disaster from start to finish. Completely unfunny, unrealistic comments paired with the actors inability to deliver them convincingly easily makes this one of the worst films of the 21st century. The writing in terms of story wasn't good at all either, but it seemed like a revelation compared to the dialogs. There's better dialogs in porn no doubt about it. The story is very generic. Martial arts student has his master killed and he takes revenge on the one who did it. While doing so, he recovers a priceless book and falls in love with his buddy's sister. The music is a catastrophe as well, mix of hip hop and techno, which fits the tale only in terms of quality, but never in terms of contents. Horrible horrible film and I can only shake my head at other reviewers here who called this a hidden gem. Are you kidding me??? This does not even have German soap opera level. Stay far far away.

A post-apocalypse martial arts movie made by Germans? Well, that combination sounded quite intriguing to me when I found a copy of this movie at a video store in my city. And I was happy upon watching the movie to find out it was decent entertainment overall. Though made with a very small budget, the movie does boast some good special effects and production design. The martial arts experts showcased in the movie definitely show they are experts at martial arts, and while they are not great actors, they are adequate. The movie also keeps moving at a fairly brisk pace, so there are no boring parts. Still, I will admit that the movie could have been better. The cinematography is really ugly, for one thing. Maybe they were trying for a unique look, but the colors are really unattractive. Also, the script could have used some work, seeing how many of the characters and plot turns are very familiar to those well versed in modern B movies. And while the fights are generally good, there are some moments when I wish they didn't cut to different angles so frequently. Don't get me wrong, I did find the movie entertaining. However, I would advise potential viewers to not have their expectations be very high. If you are willing to accept some big flaws and see the movie as a labor of love, the better chance there is of you enjoying it.

The director himself said, that this wasn't supposed to be seen in cinemas (it was shown at the Fantasy Filmfest at several cities throughout Germany), but was made for TV. So having that in mind, you might rate it a bit higher than me. And the director seemed like a nice guy (he even showed his movie in China at a festival and they loved it there, he told us). Why the loved it? One can guess because they didn't really catch onto the fact, that the people "acting" in this movie, couldn't really be called actors and so they just enjoyed the action scenes instead.And if you're only out for the action, than you will enjoy this too. But if you're looking for something deeper, something meaningful, stay away from this film. Apart from the fact, that there's no real acting in this movie, there's also no story to found anywhere near it also. There are of course other martial arts movies who were great, with little-to-none story also, but they had even better fight scenes. That of course brings us back to the beginning: This movie did not have much money/a big budget! I don't think it deserves more than 3 points (out of 10), but I might have considered some of the facts I listed above into my vote ...

Quite a lot of illogical things. I found the idea nice to have a German action and fighting movie. But the actors are not good enough, the story is unbelievably flat. As example, you know who will be the traitor after about 20mins, whereas the actual treason takes place after an hour. Guns etc. have been forgotten, but are still in use by some of the people. The inhabitants of Berlin in 2045 are all young and handsome, they have supplies but no one knows where they come from etc.After all, the fighting scenes are quite nice, you have a connecting story, which unfortunately does not explain all the fights. But the story is more like those connecting parts of a computer game.... and that definitely is not enough for a real movie.