Who knew rural Denmark was quite this dangerous? Luckily they have the miniature but dedicated young "Antboy/Pelle" (Oscar Dietz) to keep order - so long as he gets his daily dose of sugar. He is quite keen on his friend "Ida" (Amalie Kruse Jensen) but she has got herself hooked on the environmentally switched-on "Christian" (Hector Brøgger Andersen) whilst the desperately in need of an haircut "Pelle" has an admirer in "Maria" (Astrid Juncher-Benzon). When she gets the wrong end of the stick about a school party, she becomes the proverbial woman scorned and that happens just as she discovers that a device her boffin dad had been working on for ages was unexpectedly working! This gadget provided her with a cloak of invisibility and so using this, she is able to disarm "Antboy" and empower two schoolboy bullies so she can bring him down! Of course, she hasn't really considered the ramifications of her grand scheme as the bullies, and their imprisoned puppet master - the dastardly "Flea", start to turn their town upside down. Luckily, his best pal "Wilhelm" (Samuel Ting Graf) stays faithful to his now powerless friend and maybe together then can thwart the cunning evil and restore "Antboy" to full combative strength. Now it's clearly had a very limited budget and like most superhero movies, the disguises wouldn't fool anyone but there is an engaging effort here from Dietz as he tries to save the day for his fellow ten year olds. This film is not meant for adults and it'd be unfair to critique it on that basis. Director Ask Hasselbalch has worked with a cast of enthusiastic youngsters telling us a predictable fantasy story that would we could all have related to at that age. "Antboy" is a combination of pin-up boy and life saver and the nasties - well just think JK Rowling's "Crabbe" & "Goyle" and you won't be far off bring just enough comedy menace to the proceedings to keep it going. The actors look like they are enjoying themselves and it's a solid reminder that cinema can be made, Children's Film Foundation style, without spending a fortune on repetitive and snazzy visual effects. It is very basic, but it is not a terrible effort.
