When "Werner - Eiskalt!" came out in 2011, it was already over 20 years since the very first Werner film, and in my opinion the best. Maybe that is why they decided to use the formula from that one again to split the film into live action and animation sequences. Films 2 to 4 are exclusively animation. However, that was not the key to the first film's success. Even there the animated sequences were the highlight. So Brösel is back in the center of the story here, seemingly dying, but coming back to life for a spectacular race. The final animated scene implies that this may very well be the final Werner movie.
The animation here is different than in the previous films. I can't say if it is better or worse, but it is much more modern and you see that it's been 8 years since the last Werner film. Also it runs pretty long, over 90 minutes and this longer than the first film and much longer than the three in-between. Occasionally it is a funny movie, but as a whole I did hope for more. One of my favorite scenes was the early one with the milk van and you knew there's be a huge mess. However, I wished Röhrich, my favorite character, could have gotten more screen time.
All in all, it is a decent movie. If you enjoyed the previous ones, this one deserves a chance and I think it is unlikely you will stumble about this film without having seen any of the older films. I myself was a bit surprised it has been quite a bit in the past when Werner actually lived. Somehow I always imagined him more of a 21st century type, although that does not really make sense obviously with the first movie coming out shortly after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Lots of racing action in this film: buggies, Porsche cars, motorbikes and we even get to see a race between two urns. I also found interesting how the movie referenced other modern forms of imitation. Obviously the makers are not too big on Japanese anime. And there is an interesting Bee Maya reference at one point. Finally let me give you a little snippet. The director from this film here is the very prolific German cinematographer Gernot Roll. While his directorial body of work does not look too impressive, his efforts as a cinematographer include Caroline Link's Academy Award winning "Nirgendwo in Afrika" and many more films by noteworthy people like Eichinger, Wortmann, Dietl and most recently Edgar Reitz. "Werner - Eiskalt!" is possibly my favorite directorial work from Roll. Recommended, although I found the superficial girl with the soft spot for Brösel's manager much hotter than Brösel's actual girlfriend at the end of the film.
The animation here is different than in the previous films. I can't say if it is better or worse, but it is much more modern and you see that it's been 8 years since the last Werner film. Also it runs pretty long, over 90 minutes and this longer than the first film and much longer than the three in-between. Occasionally it is a funny movie, but as a whole I did hope for more. One of my favorite scenes was the early one with the milk van and you knew there's be a huge mess. However, I wished Röhrich, my favorite character, could have gotten more screen time.
All in all, it is a decent movie. If you enjoyed the previous ones, this one deserves a chance and I think it is unlikely you will stumble about this film without having seen any of the older films. I myself was a bit surprised it has been quite a bit in the past when Werner actually lived. Somehow I always imagined him more of a 21st century type, although that does not really make sense obviously with the first movie coming out shortly after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Lots of racing action in this film: buggies, Porsche cars, motorbikes and we even get to see a race between two urns. I also found interesting how the movie referenced other modern forms of imitation. Obviously the makers are not too big on Japanese anime. And there is an interesting Bee Maya reference at one point. Finally let me give you a little snippet. The director from this film here is the very prolific German cinematographer Gernot Roll. While his directorial body of work does not look too impressive, his efforts as a cinematographer include Caroline Link's Academy Award winning "Nirgendwo in Afrika" and many more films by noteworthy people like Eichinger, Wortmann, Dietl and most recently Edgar Reitz. "Werner - Eiskalt!" is possibly my favorite directorial work from Roll. Recommended, although I found the superficial girl with the soft spot for Brösel's manager much hotter than Brösel's actual girlfriend at the end of the film.