Maidexpl
Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
Twilightfa
Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.
Leoni Haney
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Alistair Olson
After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
altec-gs
This review contains spoilers, so don't read further if you have a problem with this. . . . . . Well, i honestly didn't think that this movie would waist two hours of my life. I mean, i was expecting a comedy yes, but i was expecting that they follow historical facts doing this, in most part at least. This movie had so much potential, especially when looking at the cast, but what they have done, is literally made a fiction movie, about some guy that looks like Hitler, and named the movie after Adolf.. Except the part where he gets thrown out of the Academy in Vienna, the movie has nothing to do with the man it is named after.I am someone who is very interested in history in general, and especially the two world wars, and have done a lot of reading and some research about the guy, so a know a thing or two about his life..This movie is by it's nature a sensitive topic, and they made something as powerful and dangerous as Nazi ideology, an ideology that blinded an entire nation, and made it look like something i would rather not say in this review.What i don't understand is how a good actor like Tom Schilling even considered taking part in this movie. If there ever was a movie that insults the intelligence of a German nation, and it's history, it is this one. And it is doing that perfectly.The movie portraits Adolf Hitlers early years in Vienna in the beginning of 20th century. It shows the guy as a complete idiot, hater of everything, and off course, an extreme street yelling anti- semitic moron talentless aspiring artist that moves to a artists homeless shelter where he befriends some older guys that eventually turns out to be a Jew. From the start the Jewish guy is portrayed as a great helpful man that acts as Adolf's guardian throughout the movie all while Hitler is insulting him and Jews on daily basis. Then, the biggest cliché in the world happens, he sees a beautiful young German girl on the window naked, and instantly gets a crush in her.. Then off course, he finds that the girl(who is maybe 20 btw) is in a romantic relationship with his guardian(who is in his 60 btw).. So another cliché, he starts to hate the Jew even more, and joins an antisemitic gang, and eventually starts to attack Jews in Vienna.. And yeah, did i tell you that he steals the idea of Mein Kampf from the guy? I mean the historical incorrectness of this movie is astonishing. The movie itself is supposed to be a comedy, but in reality it looks like it is made purely to insult Germans intelligence and Adolf Hitler himself. It is not funny either.The acting itself is good, technically also, however nothing can compensate the fact that the script is a huge piece of S**t.I would never watch this movie again, and i really, really don't recommend anyone to watch it in the first place.A real disappointment.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
Do not be mislead by this 105-minute film's title "Mein Kampf". This film is not based on Adolf Hitler's autobiography, but on a theater play by Budapest-born, BAFTA-winning writer George Tabori, who died briefly before this film was released. This is also why you should not watch this expecting a historically accurate depiction of Hitler's early years, but instead go for a political thriller. If David Wnendt can lead Hitler as a stand-up comedian into the 21st century, then "lack of authenticity" is not a valid point in evaluating this film here. This was written and directed by Swiss filmmaker Urs Odermatt. The film had its world premiere in Canada back in 2009, but it still took a while until most other people got to see it, especially Germans, namely 1.5 years later. It is basically a 2-man show. Tom Schilling and Götz George show why they are considered among the finest German actors of their respective age groups. Of course their roles are baity as hell too and it's almost impossible for them to go over the top here.What I found most interesting was the character of Gretchen, not only because of the Faust reference, but also because she somewhat displays the German people during the years of the real Hitler's rise to power. And as I managed not to expect any great realism in here, I was also impressed by the script. There are many interesting details in the characters' interactions from start to finish, especially of course in how Hitler perceives Jewery (in terms of Herzl) and how influences, such as other, older, more experienced Germans shape his perception of Jews in general, almost exclusively to the negative. The references to Hitler's aspiring career as a painter/artist were nicely included as well and they did well in not constructing the entire film around it. There were certainly a couple scenes that could have been cut, so the film would not have crossed the 95-minute mark and still stayed essential, but it's also fine at over 100 minutes. I enjoyed the watch. Thumbs up.
hwyhobo
At first I thought the author was just being fanciful with facts, but as the movie deteriorated and sank deeper and deeper into absurd, I am left puzzling - what was the point of this? The movie has nothing to do with historical facts, it isn't really funny, it portrays Hitler as an insane petulant teenager cared for by a loving wise old Jew (however unkempt) who apparently also wrote Mein Kampf, but of course with a different message, and who is sexually pestered by a young blond maiden with long braids... should I continue?The movie meanders from ridiculous to insulting. In the end you can't believe you just watched it.
Warge
I own and have read the real Mein Kampf, written by Adolf Hitler during his short stay in prison, and also quite a lot of other literature about Hitler and his early years, which is important, since Hitler did not shy from lying in the book.Now, the film about Hitler's early years in Vienna could have been so good if it didn't try to explain every little thing that would later happen - the idea to the swastika for example, or even the growth of his now characteristic moustache.The film portrays Hitler as a young, from the beginning hateful man who is adopted by a jew (of course) and how he drops from being a failed painter to a leader of a small group of thugs, leading them against the jews.This is ridiculous and has very little with the truth to do. The only thing the film gets right is: Hitler failed getting into the art academy. That's it. The rest is a some kind of desperate attempt to explain every little detail with the later NSDAP and antisemitic movement and of course Hitler himself, which is a pity really, since I looked forward to seeing a film about the early years without the bias towards Hitler - which of course is hard to shy away from if one is a normal, thinking person.Technically it is brilliant, and the acting is good - what the film lacks is a more observing eye or script, which is the basics in ANY good film.I would not recommend it, unless one has nothing else to watch and don't care about details as a history buff, because it is good enough to kill a couple of hours with. Despite the flaws.