Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Die Musterknaben III - 1000 und eine Nacht..." is a German 90-minute film from 2003, so it will have its 15th anniversary next year and this one was written and directed by prolific filmmaker Ralf Huettner (co-writer is known actor Dominic Raacke). Still it is probably nowhere near his most known works, which may also have to do with this being a small screen release and as the title already tells, it is the third and (by now) final entry to the Musterknaben series about two German cops played by Oliver Korittke and Jürgen Tarrach. The more I see by Korittke, the less I like him I must say. There is something about him that I find relatively unpleasing to watch and as a consequence it is hard for me to like characters he is playing, even if they are supposed to be likable. And honestly, I also don't see a huge deal of talent in him. Tarrach is probably a bit more talented, but he can also only be as good as the script lets him and honestly that whole Indian body double plot, which is really at the core of it all is never smart or creative, but feels like something taken right out of a Supernasen film and that is definitely not a compliment. The side-plots involving a touch of romance and (car) action sequences are not a lot better than stuff like Cobra 11 either. The many crime references were pretty mediocre here. Overall, this is mostly a disappointment and with the quality here, I am not too surprised this one did not make it to the big screen either. The characters lack shades and facets here and the usual approach for this franchise to mix crime with comedy is not working out at all. All in all, these 1.5 hours are at least as forgettable and unsuccessful as the first film from the trilogy. The second is easily the strongest from the bunch, so as I wrote in the title of my review maybe it would have been best for this one to never have been made and for this being a duology instead. The comedy is just way over the top here in a pretty bad way at times. It's all too absurd. Yes the film is not a failure in its entirety and here and there the competence by those working on this project in front of and behind the camera shows, but it's far from frequent enough. This film is not a dream come true. Watch something else instead as I give it a thumbs-down.
