Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
Freaktana
A Major Disappointment
Keira Brennan
The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
Tyreece Hulme
One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Blackbird013-1
This is a spectacular family film. In it's original language there is a nuance of multiple languages blending so if you can stand subtitles with the actual voices of the actors I highly recommend it for adults and children old enough to keep up.Things to understand:
It's not a modern action children's movie with a defined villain although some actions in the film on the part of some characters can be seen as villainous or dark. The entire movie focuses on real life personality drama rather than mechanized drama.It's not a Disney or typical family film format with unintelligent people characterizations made simple and obvious. While themes are simple enough for children, they are handled in a more subtle real way.It may contain some classic clichés about conditions and illnesses among children which it is up to the viewer to determine the merit of.It's an absolutely beautiful film that seems to portray a real world rather than a polished one which is actually refreshing. Period mud streets and dirty feet with a contrast between simple mountain life and prim proper city life.
SerpentMage
Born in Germany, grew up in North America, lived all over Europe, and am a Swiss (Naturalized) and did not know the story of Heidi. My wife said, "don't you remember the cartoons?" Answer: NO.It is an excellent movie and being German (born near Frankfurt) / Swiss dual citizen, I actually truly appreciated its reality and adherence to the people and the land. While others may say, "oh where is this", this movie paid attention to how people were of that time. I was surprised by that.The story itself might not be accurate the the cartoons, but as my wife says, "you know it is a story right?" Well, and here is the thing the movie is very true to the original story, and not the cartoons.Swiss appreciated the movie because they did not use a German dialect throughout the entire movie. They used a true Swiss dialect when appropriate.So does the movie skip? Sure, it does, but it only has 2 hours to cover a complicated story. They decided to focus on the main parts of the original story and did a very good job.
Finfy
I was skeptical the first time I saw that Heidi was going to be adapted into a movie again since I grew up with the animated series on television and I remember it even today but this movie surprised me.You can feel how much the movie team wanted to make a movie that people knowing the original would love.Heidis actor is a wonderful girl. I could barely imagine anyone who would fit the role better than her. Klara and every other actor fit their role and play them with a lot of charm.The pictures in the movie are beautiful. You can almost feel Heidis love for them when she is in Frankfurt and how much she misses them. The movie is well shot and has a wonderful and catching score which contributes to the overall positive mood of the movie.I am glad they got to put every big plot point in the movie. Especially Klaras arc later in the series. We get a wonderful ending and in the end a wonderful movie for kids and fans of the originals.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Heidi" is a new German(-language) film that brings back Johanna Spyri's title character to the big screen, a little girl who discovers how much she loves live at the countryside/in the mountains. Unfortunately, her aunt(?) who took care of her after Heidi's mother's death is not exactly a great talent in terms of upbringing and literally sells her to a family in the city of Frankfurt, who are looking for a companion for her wheelchair-bound daughter. It certainly is a tough decision who's worse: Fräulein Rottenmeier or Dete? These two sure make Heidi suffer a lot. This movie here has quite a few big names in terms of German cinema: Schüttler, Haase, Mehmet, Lohmeyer are all well-known here and then of course there is Bruno Ganz, who is a big star abroad as well.However, let's not forget the child actors. I thought the trio did a good job. They all showed that they have talent in terms of acting and that they were deserving to play major characters in such a big film. Nice choices by the casting directors. The story is good as well. I must say that the emotional moments could have needed better elaboration sometimes, like Öhi growing closer to Heidi or when Klara suddenly is able to walk at the end. Then again, this is all seen and displayed through the eyes of children and for them it's more about discovering something new than about feeling something. And it's certainly not that they were free of all emotion, just a case of "is good, but could have been great". There are also funny moments in there. More severe scenes like Peter beating the goats or destroying the wheelchair are mitigated by the "sharing cheese and ham" talk and the boy's guilty conscience.The movie runs for roughly 105 minutes which is fairly long for a kids movie, but nothing that breaks records or anything. If your kids have the attention span, this film is certainly worth a watch. Maybe my lack of emotional response also has to do with me living in cities for my entire life. People who lived in the countryside or even in the mountains may respond even more positive to this film than I did. Of course, I still managed to enjoy the beautiful scenery and animals in here in the first and last chapters in the mountains. Good movie. Not among year-best for me, but I recommend it.