"Marga Engel schlägt zurück", which means "Marga Engel strikes back", is a German television film from 2001 and it runs for slightly under 1.5 hours like most TV movies do these days here in Germany. In order to make a statement on the film's quality, it is enough already to look at the people who made this. Director Helmut Metzger has basically only worked on Katie Fforde films in the last decade and if you don't know these films, let me tell you they are quality-wise about the same level like Rosamunde Pilcher. The writer Knut Boeser has not really been very active since this film came out and all he did before and after that was also really sub-par television entertainment. So the project was kinda doomed from the start. And this is also how it turns out eventually. It's tough to say anything negative about Marianne Sägebrecht really. She is a likable presence most of the time, there is no denying. This, however, does not turn her into a quality actress by any means. Not at all. Even if she wasn't playing literally the same character in every film she is in, she allso does not really have the range to make this kind of character truly work, so it stays all very shallow. At least that is what it felt like to me. Other audiences may disagree because this small screen release here was successful enough for two sequels being made. The third film is already way back though looking at when it was made, so the series ends with three films for sure. Sägebrecht is not retired, but also I don't think she is really playing lead characters anymore.
Still, this series here should have ended after the first film, or even better before the first film. They do have a tolerable cast here, but they really don't make a lot with it. Gwisdek is an actor many people like. I don't see too much in him either though. He also has a tendency to play extremely similar characters in movies and I don't think he has the greatest range. His son I definitely prefer. Claudia Messner is a really established actress, but here she just does not have the material to shine, even if in her few scenes she probably elevates the writing. Ina Paule Klink I know from Wilsberg. She is pretty stunning no denying and if I say that as somebody who is generally not that much into blondes, then it means something. Gunter Berger may he rest in peace. i was actually surprised how much screen time he got in here the longer the film went. He wasn't bad. Okay, these are the main players. Now let us take a look at the story. I mean it is tolerable early on and Sägebrecht somehow manages to carry it with her recognition value. Had this film ended earlier, then maybe I would have given it two stars out of five and not out of ten. But at the end, it really gets considerably worse like when the initial main antagonist is in jail and then she pulls the same trick basically on the guys filling in his footsteps. This was just ridiculous and there the film hits rock-bottom really. Still there were more weak moments before that already. The best example is everything about Gwisdek's character. A lawyer who wants to blow up the car. Hmmm not really funny, certainly not credible at all. Just a mess. And the worst is sometimes his charicter is just there and this feels so weak and still better than when he has an impact on the story. Because said impact really sucks. Of course he also gets near the end an implied love story with the title character. I also struggled with the (at the end not so) bad guy's daughter being so close with Sägebrecht's character. This felt just wrong that she would betray her dad so harshly most of the time. Oh yeah and how can I not mention the fact that at the end Marga Engel really just ran the enterprise (even if she quickly has enough) after the bad guys are out of the way. Really credible yep, but hey at least she reads a few books (about law I believe) halfway into the movie. There are many many scenes here in this film that make no sense at all. And the comedy is far from good enough to make up for that and honestly at some point it is also enough and I don't want to see Marga anymore being shoved into our faces with her kindness yet determination. Writing really destroys it all here, likehow she ends up in the housee of her main antagonist. No words for this coincidence. Yeah I just cannot call this film anything other than a major failure. Shameful that they did not stop with this chaacter afterwards. And don't even get me started on naming her "Engel". The cringe...
Still, this series here should have ended after the first film, or even better before the first film. They do have a tolerable cast here, but they really don't make a lot with it. Gwisdek is an actor many people like. I don't see too much in him either though. He also has a tendency to play extremely similar characters in movies and I don't think he has the greatest range. His son I definitely prefer. Claudia Messner is a really established actress, but here she just does not have the material to shine, even if in her few scenes she probably elevates the writing. Ina Paule Klink I know from Wilsberg. She is pretty stunning no denying and if I say that as somebody who is generally not that much into blondes, then it means something. Gunter Berger may he rest in peace. i was actually surprised how much screen time he got in here the longer the film went. He wasn't bad. Okay, these are the main players. Now let us take a look at the story. I mean it is tolerable early on and Sägebrecht somehow manages to carry it with her recognition value. Had this film ended earlier, then maybe I would have given it two stars out of five and not out of ten. But at the end, it really gets considerably worse like when the initial main antagonist is in jail and then she pulls the same trick basically on the guys filling in his footsteps. This was just ridiculous and there the film hits rock-bottom really. Still there were more weak moments before that already. The best example is everything about Gwisdek's character. A lawyer who wants to blow up the car. Hmmm not really funny, certainly not credible at all. Just a mess. And the worst is sometimes his charicter is just there and this feels so weak and still better than when he has an impact on the story. Because said impact really sucks. Of course he also gets near the end an implied love story with the title character. I also struggled with the (at the end not so) bad guy's daughter being so close with Sägebrecht's character. This felt just wrong that she would betray her dad so harshly most of the time. Oh yeah and how can I not mention the fact that at the end Marga Engel really just ran the enterprise (even if she quickly has enough) after the bad guys are out of the way. Really credible yep, but hey at least she reads a few books (about law I believe) halfway into the movie. There are many many scenes here in this film that make no sense at all. And the comedy is far from good enough to make up for that and honestly at some point it is also enough and I don't want to see Marga anymore being shoved into our faces with her kindness yet determination. Writing really destroys it all here, likehow she ends up in the housee of her main antagonist. No words for this coincidence. Yeah I just cannot call this film anything other than a major failure. Shameful that they did not stop with this chaacter afterwards. And don't even get me started on naming her "Engel". The cringe...