Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
Neive Bellamy
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Leoni Haney
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
richardgeuter
There isn't even a year between this and the release of Til Schweiger's previous film, "Keinohrhasen" ("Rabbit without Ears"). Thankfully, he didn't write the script this time around, so in the ever-growing Schweiger canon this film stands out: Instead of making a romantic comedy about an irresponsible manchild who learns to commit to a meaningful relationship by the end, this one is a broad medieval comedy. It has therefore more in common with similar German period spoof films, like the "7 Zwerge" ("7 dwarfs") movies or the earlier films by Michael Herbig, although none of these are set in medieval times. A big advantage of Schweiger giving screenwriting duties to other people is the fact that he plays a different character than in all his other movies. His stale performance in "Keinohrhasen" didn't convince me of his acting talent, but I found him rather enjoyable here. He is still sloppily mumbling through his lines and his face muscles rarely move, but put a silly wig on him and write him as somewhat socially awkward, and you can make his role kind of funny and refreshing. All the other players in this movie, most of them television personalities rather than actors, don't venture out of their comfort zone, and are therefore not as refreshing. The casting of Thomas Gottschalk as King Gunther is technically spot-on, but unfortunately Gottschalk takes his role far too seriously. Same for Udo Kier. The only genuinely good performance comes from Rick Kavanian, but that doesn't mean he made me laugh. That's because the script is painfully unfunny. Some of the comedy bits are lifted from better films, and stupid pseudo-gags are extended way beyond what is appropriate. Which might be the reason behind the long running time. There is no justification for this movie being almost two hours long, it just makes its glaring writing and pacing issues even more apparent. Many movies like this feature some anachronistic jokes, which often makes it hard for me to develop some interest or belief in their fictional worlds, but those jokes are often reserved for quick one liners, and since these films are typically quite fast-paced, they don't take me out of the story. In "1 1/2 Ritter," however, the pacing is painfully slow, so there is nothing to compensate for all the jokes that don't land or take you out of the movie. The performances, as described above, are very low-energy, so even they don't compensate for the lack of genuine comedy writing. Compare this to the movies I listed as comparisons above (which, mind, are no masterpieces either). As a director, Schweiger is clearly out of his depth directing action scenes. A movie like this doesn't need good action because, unlike most historical dramas, the story doesn't require extended fight scenes, but that didn't stop Schweiger from including them anyway. And because he apparently couldn't afford a stunt double to perform some good choreography, all of them consist of rapidly edited close-ups of Schweiger going "hrrrng!" and violently punching his enemies. As for improvements: At least the pictures in the film have a little more colour in them than in "Keinohrhasen," the camera work in general is pretty good, and the soundtrack is well-placed and might even be listenable if you listen to it independent from the movie.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
This film here is Til Schweiger's approach to a Middle Ages comedy. It is one of these rare cases where he did only direct the film without writing it. He got help from two co-directors, including Torsten Künstler with whom he already worked on several movies. And, of course, Schweiger also stars in it. It all comes down to rescuing princess Herzelinde and the ending is of course Schweiger's character and Herzelinde being a couple. The only thing I found kind of amusing is Thomas Gottschalk as the King. Everything else is really not funny, although down to the smallest roles this cast features very well known actors from Germany, as it's usually the case with Schweiger movies. And even the New Kids on the Block give a performance.The humor on this film is mostly based on mixing Middle Ages logic with references to today's modern world. One early example would be a knight tournament with a modern sports broadcast commentator. However, it gets repetitive pretty quickly and quickly isn't funny anymore if it ever has been. Also there is some suggestive humor included here and there with not so great wordplay gently-put. The antagonists are played by Udo Kier and Mark Keller, as we find out later in the film. All in all, it's a disappointing effort, possibly the biggest failure in Schweiger's career. But you can only partially blame him for that. The script was just a huge mess and maybe this movie is one of the main reasons why he has written his own movies afterward again. Also with a running time of almost two hours, it did drag at times. Not recommended.
conall-wylde
Well I must say first that lately I've become bored with movies. Kind of an overdose, really, with at least one or two movies a day for the last 3 years. Always the same plots, the same actors, the same styles, the same politically correct and, well, the same everything. So I saw this one thinking that it was going to be the same... again. And boy was I wrong! Of course, there are some "deja vu" things here : the spirit of Shrek, a scene from François Ier with Fernandel, some souvenirs from Princess Bride, some from Kaamelott... But all witty and with good rhythm, and curiously, somehow new. I loved the actors, all unknown to me (though strangely it's been like I've known them forever instantly) but all very good at their part, the casting is outstanding because every character is just so perfectly what you'd expect him/her to be, Lanze wear so seriously his ridiculous hairdo, the Black Knight is so charming, the king so good, the bad one so creepy, the princess so spoiled yet lovable... Anyway, I've spent a very entertaining moment, and I wasn't able to stop before the end, nor did I want to do so, though this has happened to me countless times for other movies lately. It's very well acted, and everything in it just feels right. For me, it's an instant classic. A great and lovable movie, really.
Annette
I really was disappointed after watching this movie. The cast was promising, a lot of famous Germans actors and comedians are participating in this movie. Even the plot was promising but i don't know what happened. Some sequences were way too long, the beginning was lame and funny scenes weren't that funny. And this movie is NOT for the whole family, my advice: please leave your kids under 12 years at home, because an important topic is sex. I wished there were more funny moments in it. There is no spirit in this movie. Of course there were some points where i had to laugh, mostly when the character called Erdal was on screen. This was not a good German comedy.
