"Winnetou & Old Shatterhand" is a German German-language movie from 2016. This one runs for almost 2 hours and was directed by Philipp Stölzl. The script is by Jan Berger. these two already worked together on "The Physician", a film I quite enjoyed a lot. But back to this one here. The original work is of course by Karl May and it is a small screen release. Actually, it is the first of three Winnetou movies that premiered during the holidays 2016. You can argue that these three films are actually a mini-series (like at the German Television awards), but I believe it is correct to categorize it as three individual movies. Each film has its own story and antagonists and even if the main characters return for every film, they still felt like individual works and achievements. The two main characters here are played by Nik Xhelilaj and Wotan Wilke Möhring. The latter is certainly more known and among the most established and successful actors from his generation.
Let me start by talking a bit about the old Winnetou films. I personally would not call myself a fan and I found several of them pretty boring. The hype about this trilogy here still motivated me to check out the relaunch. And while there are some problems that also existed back in the 1960s (characters are either saints or truly evil, nothing in between, no shades), there are also more than a handful aspects that make this new film worth checking out. The fact that they added new villains and new stories for every film keeps the series from being too repetitive. Vogel is an okay choice for the first film here and his henchman added by Masucci ("Er ist wieder da") also adds his share. Peschel plays one of the character that keep getting elaborated on the longer the series continues in contrast to several characters (like the two I mentioned) whose story ends after this first film. Overall, I would say that while this movie may not be as good as the one by Stölzl/Berger that I mentioned earlier, it was still a pretty convincing watch. Visually, it is very fine in terms of costumes, makeup and cinematography as well as sets and story-wise it is good too. It may be good that the focus was more on Möhring's character than on Xhelilaj's as I think his story has a lot more to offer.
The makers weren't scared of truly dramatic moments, killing off influential characters etc. and it's always a good thing especially if it does not feel included for the sake of it. Yes there is some generic stuff in here and a lot of it is predictable and there are some weak plot developments like the confusing connection between Karl May and Old Shatterhand, but these are just minor criticisms. I think it is a rewarding watch with interesting plot twists at times and the film dragged surprisingly little for a movie that runs for almost two hours. Anyway, this praise from me can be considered even more positive as, like I already said, I am not that big of a fan of the old films or of Indian-focused westerns in general. I give it a thumbs-up and I think you should check it out. Don't wait too long because right now you will certainly get a hand on these films so briefly after they got released.
Let me start by talking a bit about the old Winnetou films. I personally would not call myself a fan and I found several of them pretty boring. The hype about this trilogy here still motivated me to check out the relaunch. And while there are some problems that also existed back in the 1960s (characters are either saints or truly evil, nothing in between, no shades), there are also more than a handful aspects that make this new film worth checking out. The fact that they added new villains and new stories for every film keeps the series from being too repetitive. Vogel is an okay choice for the first film here and his henchman added by Masucci ("Er ist wieder da") also adds his share. Peschel plays one of the character that keep getting elaborated on the longer the series continues in contrast to several characters (like the two I mentioned) whose story ends after this first film. Overall, I would say that while this movie may not be as good as the one by Stölzl/Berger that I mentioned earlier, it was still a pretty convincing watch. Visually, it is very fine in terms of costumes, makeup and cinematography as well as sets and story-wise it is good too. It may be good that the focus was more on Möhring's character than on Xhelilaj's as I think his story has a lot more to offer.
The makers weren't scared of truly dramatic moments, killing off influential characters etc. and it's always a good thing especially if it does not feel included for the sake of it. Yes there is some generic stuff in here and a lot of it is predictable and there are some weak plot developments like the confusing connection between Karl May and Old Shatterhand, but these are just minor criticisms. I think it is a rewarding watch with interesting plot twists at times and the film dragged surprisingly little for a movie that runs for almost two hours. Anyway, this praise from me can be considered even more positive as, like I already said, I am not that big of a fan of the old films or of Indian-focused westerns in general. I give it a thumbs-up and I think you should check it out. Don't wait too long because right now you will certainly get a hand on these films so briefly after they got released.
