sjsg-71913

Overall, the German movie is not doing so well. The genres of German movies seem to be the usual suspects: Romantic comedies or everything about WWII. We shouldn't even start talking about the questionable practice of movie funding in Germany, i.e. Allocation of public money for movie productions.

What has been done here with Limbo is a ray of hope.

Since the movie was shot in one take, we are in the middle of all action from the very beginning and follow the protagonists step by step. It is unforgivable to hold your cell phone in your hand while watching. There is too much happening in every minute.

Sure, it seems as if Martin Semmelrogge as Ozzy falls into overacting in the first third of the movie, but his acting then blends wonderfully into the heated atmosphere of the movie's main setting.

The actors, crew and extras did a great job. In a one-take shot, every little mistake is unforgivable. A slip of the tongue in dialog, looking into the camera, wrong timing - everything sets the shoot back to the beginning. But the risk and the effort paid off.

The gangster story which takes place in Munich (no, we are not in Berlin this time) is believable, even if it also serves stereotypes.

The movie was released at a difficult time just a few weeks before the beginning of the pandemic in Germany and has, quite wrongly, received too little attention.

The movie wants to tell an exciting agent story. As is typical for a Netflix production like this, it goes around the world again. We see a lot of technical frippery that would have been better off in "Minority Report" and there is obvious CGI. Neither the fate of the main character, nor that of the villains interests. After seeing it, there is nothing left to remember. It's arbitrary entertainment. We are supposed to admire big stars in a glossy production and get the feeling that cinema is at home by subscription. This is a fallacy. It's a pity for the time we waste on such movies. I recommend watching MI or James Bond instead.

This movie has nothing to offer than well made splatter effects which can be understood as a tribute to exploitation horror movies from the 80s. However, this isn't enough to be a good movie. If you want to see suffering, screaming and slowly dying people, this is your movie. However, if you want to see a thrilling horror movie that is not only remembered for its excessive senseless and rampant violence, because after all this movie is essentially about celebrating bloodthirsty violence, you won't be happy with this. That clowns can be creepy and besides their clichéd cheerfulness can radiate a dark mysticism has been better captured on film elsewhere.