ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Germanikus" is a German movie from 2004, so this one will have its 15th anniversary two years from now. The director is Hanns Christian Müller and if you are a German film buff, you will immediately make a connection to actor Gerhard Polt and rightfully so, because Polt is one of several writers here and he also plays the title character in here. Gisela Schneeberger is on board as always too next to Polt and you will see several known faces here like Engelke, Bleibtreu, Hermann, Schneider, Sözer and more, even if most of them only have one-scene performances. But it shows how respected Polt is today, even a long long time after his peak. It was a tough decision here, but I need to give this film a thumbs-down. There are some good moments without a doubt and a few pretty creative ideas for sure. I also liked the introduction and epilogue by Polt himself, especially the prologue and it helped in understanding that the film does not want to be taken seriously at all. The long middle part that is set centuries back in the past has also a great deal of interhuman conversations and communication in it and the fact that it is not Polt's best is just because his best is great and this is only good. But sadly, the film also went over the top on many occasions and yes, it is supposed to be taken lightly, but it just wasn't funny enough and you could see frequently shots at comedy gone wrong. Not really wrong, but unsuccessful lets say. There were some moments when I felt Polt was crucial to the overall film, but there were also others when I thought that he did not make a difference at all and others could have played the part as/equally well. It's certainly not as defining a film for Polt as some other works written by him. It's without a doubt better and more creative than Und Äktschn!, but not good enough overall. I suggest you skip these pretty short 80 minutes and watch something else instead.

FakeShemp-1 What happens when a genius of satire collides with popular comedians of German TV...? Not necessarily something good. The comedy-content is very poor and looks like thrown in just for commercial reasons to fit into the successful tradition of other German comedy-movies of the last years. But it's done very poor. Flat humour is not Polt's and his director's (Hans Christian Müller) cup of tea who have made great satires together in the 70ies/80ies for TV and the big screen. And because the comedy in "Germanikus" is loud and in the foreground, Polts more subtle ideas get almost erased totally here. I feel sorry for Polt because for me he always was and still will be the better and far more intelligent alternative to flat German comedy. Strangely, here he has delivered exactly what he does not stand for. This movie should be buried really deep. Gerhard Polt in his earlier films and especially on stage is a whole different world. A delight! But this movie here is torture. It was maybe messed up by too many cooks with too many differing interests. At least, it only can get better now! ;)

NemoAB Polt is telling a fairy tale, a dream he had of how he became emperor of Rome 2000 years ago. The time is cruel, bad luck if you are a slave. Germanikus is enslaved by the Romans. He is not very bright, but stumbles through the scenes and while a lot of the other slaves got killed sooner or later, he survives and makes it to the top. The movie is just entertainment, it has no special meaning (as far as I can tell). And I admit: I did laugh at several points. The use of dialect doesn't bother me, I don't think that Polt can do without. But the dialect is not the source of fun in this film.Most of the comedians playing other minor roles don't have the room to deliver fun or even a personality. They just appear and say some lines. The focus is just on Polt. Many flaws to be a good movie.There are other movies out there which are really tasteless and disgusting. This one isn't that bad. It deserves 4/10. :-)

nickhantke This movie has nothing to offer whatsoever. The story has no funny moments at all and the dialogs leave you with an utter feeling of emptiness. Gerhard Polt just doesn´t seem to understand that the jokes he made in his older movies were ok at the time but now are simply old and boring. The use of dialect is frequent but not in a way that would surprise you or add to the characters. The supporting cast consists of actually good actors or comedians but there lines are just not funny. I´m sorry to have wasted time on this movie. Btw the worst is still Roadflower (if you don´t know it do nothing about it)