Die Spinnen, 2. Teil - Das Brillantenschiff (1920)

And the running time is completely wrong too; I saw a version of 105 minutes.

The film is somewhat less balanced than part 1. A boring middle section, in particular, spoils the fun a bit. The finale is also somewhat disappointing. It's a shame, because the beginning is really fun. Secret back rooms, flooding spaces (with a Charlton Heston look-alike Carl de Vogt in that room), walls moving towards each other (again with...), hidden undercarriages, a fantastically filmed heist. It is clear how many films Die Spinnen preceded. From Pirates of the Caribbean to Big Trouble in Little China.

It's a shame that at a certain point the story takes more of a backseat and we regularly see scenes that last for minutes of two men sitting opposite each other talking (without cue cards). Sometimes they pass each other a note, and then you do see that note. Then they pass that note to a third person, and again you see the same note we've already seen. So that just doesn't work. And sometimes Kay Hoog, just when he's in a predicament, is suddenly out of it again, while I have no idea how it all happened.

Still, a positive feeling prevails. There are some really fun scenes in it, and at times the visual language is already very powerful. So I am giving this 3.5 stars as well. This is truly above average.

Translated from Dutch · View original