Diabolik

Surely we are faced with a film with several defects, especially in the final part where the script goes too far and the photography is perhaps too like a TV movie, but the film is still fun and entertaining and has a nice retro 60's taste, the cast good expecially beautiful and talented Miriam Leone as Eva Kant, also excellent Mastandrea as Ginkgo, Marinelli, who was very good in They call me Jeeg, in this film he struggles a bit but still gives an appreciable performance as Diabolik. In conclusion a nice film but nothing more. My rating is 6/10.

"Diabolik" is nowhere as bad as people make it out to be: it's certainly flawed (mostly from pacing issues) but it's solid, well-directed and acted, and fairly respectful of the source material. Is this a masterpiece? No. Is this the "rebirth of Italian genre movies"? No, but it's fun and entertaining to watch if you don't expect to go see Citizen Kane.

A note: obviously, Italian press reviews are hating on this movie only because they tried to make something different from the otherwise monotonous theathrical panorama: it's beyond me why every single time someone tries to make a genre movie in Italy, press is always demolishing the effort, there's no surprise the film catalogue isn't evolving much as it should.

I know about "Diabolik" as a character from a comic book, though I actually never read it. So as I sat down to watch this 2021 Italian movie from directors Antonio Manetti and Marco Manetti, I didn't really know what to expect.

Writers Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti, Michelangelo La Neve and Mario Gomboli put together an entertaining storyline and script for the movie. Sure, it was a pretty straight forward crime heist mystery, but there was still something that worked about it. Perhaps it was a mixture of the storyline and character gallery.

With my very limited exposure to the Italian cinema, then I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble at all. But they definitely had some good talents on the cast list, especially the leading actors Luca Marinelli (playing Diabolik) and Valerio Mastandrea (playing Ginko), as well as leading actress Miriam Leone (playing Lady Kant).

There is a good amount of mystery, action and character development throughout the course of the 133 minutes that the movie ran for. And I will say that I didn't find a single dull moment throughout the runtime of the movie. So thumbs up to directors Antonio Manetti and Marco Manetti on that accomplishment.

Visually then "Diabolik" was good. It wasn't a movie that made use of a whole lot of CGI. But the effects in the movie worked well in favor of the overall movie. And the wardrobe department definitely also did a good jobs.

If you haven't seen "Diabolik" yet, and enjoy a heist movie laced with mystery elements, then give this 2021 Italian movie a chance.

My rating of "Diabolik" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Amoral thief Diabolik is planning to steal a pink diamond from the wealthy Lady Eva Kant. An expanded adaptation of the third issue of the comic (L'arresto di Diabolik, 1963), where Kant's character is introduced.

The movie, set in "the late 1960s" in the fictional Clerville, is crafted like an Italian giallo of the time. Aside from the attention to scenography and costumes this stylistic choice is clear in cinematography, the use of editing, and the screenplay. The pace is much slower that what you would be used to in an action movie or thriller today, giving more of a vague vintage 'mystery' vibe, and sometimes relying too much on exposition. None of the camp of Mario Bava's "Danger: Diabolik", however: this is still a movie that takes itself seriously.

The main actors have good chemistry, with Eva Kant emerging as the real protagonist of the movie, but the cold and detached portrayal of the title character isn't inspiring and the actors beyond the main trio are forgettable.

Overall a charming and well-made work, although the style may not go well with all audiences.

As a huge fan of the character, and having felt let down by the 1968 cartoonish effort to bring Diabolik to screen, I was really pumped to learn that this film was being made and had great expectations for it.

Well...

Truth is that I sat in horror during the entire first act as I could not believe the absolutely incompetent direction, writing and acting displayed on screen. The Manetti brothers should stick to TV films and soap operas as they are clearly not cut for this genre.

But hey what do I know? They are already working on the second and third installments lol.

I want to mention that when Claudia Gerini entered the screen, for a moment I forgot that I was watching a mediocre school play. I wish she was in for more. I also really felt that Marinelli, although he did a decent job, was wrongly cast as Diabolik as he does not have the phisique du role. Same for Leone, which beauty and hair pulled up are not enough to make her a believable Eva Kent. Music score was generic and did not help propel the story.

Although I was hoping for the contrary, Diabolik 2022 doesn't stand a chance against the many international titles out there in the same genre, and as a first installment of what it appears to become a trilogy, unfortunately it is not really promising.