Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Hexe Lilli: Die Reise nach Mandolan" is a German film from 2011, so this one had its 5th anniversary last year and it is the sequel to another Hexe Lilli film from two years earlier. Alina Freund plays the title character in both and as she is turning 20 these days I guess you could say that there will not be another film about this character and the series ends as a duology just like Bibi Blocksberg did, another duology for kids here focusing on another witch, certainly an even more famous little sorceress. Okay back to this one here. If you take a look at the cast list you will find some known names like Tarrach playing one of the two antagonists or Mendl, Hagen and Kling. Michael Mittermeier reprises his voice acting role and Oscar winner Javier Bardem's mother Pilar is on board again too, even if her screen time is definitely limited. And while most of the performances were pretty okay I guess, including the child performance in the lead, I must say that the story here is probably just not good enough for another film. For example, they made very little of the interesting plot point that Lilli was far away from home and the friendship she strikes with a local boy simply isn't enough, especially as the title of the film really advertises this journey. There is zero character development in Lilli and everybody else. I have not read the original book by the writer going with the alias of Knister, so I am not sure if the original work was the problem or if it was the adaptation. The director probably wasn't as this one moved from Ruzowitzky to Sicheritz and this means we have two of Austria's most known in charge of this duology, names that you would not necessarily expect making kids films if you take a look at some of the other stuff they did. Anyway, overall this one was not a satisfying watch from the comedy or adventure approach and I suggest you skip it unless you really totally loved the first. It was the right decision they didn't make a third.
