I am a grown-up man who likes to watch films that are mostly intended for young viewers. This especially refers to quality animation films, but there are also many pretty good live action films for kids and teenagers out these days, especially here in Germany. And there are famous actors in there too. "Yoko" for example has Tobias Moretti, Jessica Schwarz and Justus von Dohnányi, all 3 very established. However, the script here does not do their talent justice. It is not a bad film by any means, but I personally was underwhelmed. My main problem with these 98 minutes was a personal one. It may only be my perception, but I just wasn't too impressed with the title character. He looks like a mix of a yeti and a polar bear and Yoda and a gremlin. Pretty strange. They obviously intended something cool and cute at the same time, but in my opinion they did not succeed with either. I wish they would have gone 100% cute. However, if you like his looks unlike me, then you will probably enjoy the film more.
There are a couple good moments, I'll give them that. However, it still felt very generic to me and the emotional moments about protecting Yoko never fully delivered for me on a dramatic level. There was definitely potential for more. Emotion by the books is never a good thing, the only somewhat unexpected aspect of this film was von Dohnányi's change of character at the end. Certainly not what I expected. The kids actors were mostly fine, especially the girl in the lead role. However, her acting and the acting from the successful guys I mentioned earlier cannot make up for the mediocre script here in my opinion. Not a complete failure, but far from as good as it could have been. Oh yeah, and the music, I mean the pop songs, included in here were probably the worst thing about the whole film. Downright cringeworthy. Not recommended.
There are a couple good moments, I'll give them that. However, it still felt very generic to me and the emotional moments about protecting Yoko never fully delivered for me on a dramatic level. There was definitely potential for more. Emotion by the books is never a good thing, the only somewhat unexpected aspect of this film was von Dohnányi's change of character at the end. Certainly not what I expected. The kids actors were mostly fine, especially the girl in the lead role. However, her acting and the acting from the successful guys I mentioned earlier cannot make up for the mediocre script here in my opinion. Not a complete failure, but far from as good as it could have been. Oh yeah, and the music, I mean the pop songs, included in here were probably the worst thing about the whole film. Downright cringeworthy. Not recommended.