TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

maxmitschke While this movie certainly has it's flaws when watching it as a grown up, I still remember it watching it as a child. I completely remember how satisfying to watch this movie was back when I was a child myself. It was everything I could have asked for: Funny, adventurous, exciting and packed with a lot of action. This movie is easily my favorite child movie.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Emil und die Detektive" or "Emil and the Detectives" is a German film from 2001, in which writer and director Franziska Buch adapted the famous tale by children's books author Erich Kästner. I watched the 1930s and 1950s films about Emil, his gang and criminal Grundeis not too long ago and it becomes obvious how different they were compared to this one here. Clearly, Buch wanted to give the film a modern rework and there are many many aspects included that do not exist in these old films and probably also not in the book. Not sure about the latter as I have never read the book. One would be the kids rapping on several occasions, others would be Gustav's mother working in a church. Emil here lives with his father played by Karl Wiesinger early on. And also the story is about gems that the kids can recover and for which they are rewarded. And there is more criminals in here chasing the kids other than Grundeis. The latter here is played by Jürgen Vogel and he is enjoyable to watch as always, even if he gives Grundeis also a completely different approach. Still I must say that he is probably almost the only good thing about this movie. One major problem is that basically all the kids actors are pretty forgettable. The one who played Gusstav is the negative highlight here and Tobias Retzlaff who plays Emil is completely bland and not memorable at all. Sommavilla (Pony Hütchen) is still the best from the gang I guess and even she is nothing special at all. Good to see most of these left film when growing up as I cannot really see a good future for the bunch when it comes to acting. Overall, there were just not too many good moments in this 15-year-old film. I cannot recommend checking it out, especially people who love Emil (the book or the old films) should stay far far away. It's also way too long at over 105 minutes and that's why you find lots of forgettable filler material like the stuff I mentioned earlier. Thumbs down for this 2001 version.

orgrunebaum I first watched this movie when i was in grade 6 while I was in Israel and I never stopped loving it. Over the years I have been looking for this movie in the US and Canada and couldn't find it. I was really disappointed but a couple of month ago when I was in Israel again I went into the BlockBuster (movie rental store) there, and there I saw Emil and the Detectives for purchasing and for a very cheap price too. So I quickly grabbed the opportunity and bought it. When I got home I was positive it was going to be German with subs but when i played the movie it was in English dubbed. I was amazed and I recommend if anyone wants to buy the movie to contact BlockBuster there and order it.I would rate this movie 10/10 just because it still makes me smile whenever I watch it.

ksandness This engaging film takes a German children's classic of the 1920s and updates it to today's multicultural Berlin. The main characters appear to be between 8 and 12 years old, old enough to understand a lot about the world..but not everything, which adds some humor to the plot about a gang of children trying to track down a thief who has stolen money from the title character, young Emil. Some of the children are immigrants, some are homeless, and one is the son of a woman pastor. They travel through the streets of Berlin on skateboards, they rap about their adventures, and they are definitely not dutiful or respectful.I saw this movie at a film festival, and I think it would make a good family movie. Unfortunately, young Americans don't have much patience with subtitles, and it has never been released in the U.S., nor, apparently, is it on DVD.