Movie: Over 50 years ago, "Little Nick", created by his spiritual fathers René Goscinny ("Asterix") and illustrator Jean-Jaques Sempé, first appeared on the scene. And since then, the cheeky primary school pupil and his best friends have delighted entire generations of children and young-at-heart readers. In 30 languages, the five volumes of Nick's adventures have sold over 8 million copies worldwide. In 2005 and 2006, two more volumes of previously undiscovered stories were published, followed in 2008 by a CGI animated series for television. Despite this enormous and, above all, long-lasting success, the daughter of Goscinny, who died in 1977, had always refused to agree to a live-action adaptation. But Laurent Tirard was able to change her mind with his concept and so Little Nick was released in French cinemas in 2009 and in German cinemas in 2010.
Actually, Little Nick (Maxime Godart) leads a dreamlike life. He is the favorite of his parents (Kad Merad, Valérie Lemercier) and in the circle of his best friends there are always new fun and exciting things to experience. Everything could be so wonderful, if only life would go on like this. But then one day Nick notices that his parents are acting strangely: they are so nice to each other. His dad even takes out the trash without complaining. This can only mean one thing: Nick is having a baby brother. And since he's afraid he'll be abandoned in the woods, like Thumbelina in the fairy tale he just covered at school, a solution to the problem is needed. With the help of his friends, Nick wants to get enough money together to hire a gangster to take care of the coming offspring. But that turns out to be harder than expected.
Laurent Tirard has achieved a minor feat with his adaptation of the popular comic books. Not only is "Little Nick" a very beautiful and clever children's film, it is also an endearing and immensely funny comedy for older viewers who remember Nick and his pals from their own childhood. With an affectionate set and numerous original ideas - such as an amusing guest appearance by "Monsieur Mathieu" Gérad Jugnot or the very charmingly designed opening credits - the film is able to entertain from the very first minute.
But the aspect with which "Little Nick" can show off most strongly is the cast. It is not "Welcome to the Sh`tis" star Kad Merad who makes the strongest impression with his admittedly very amusing performance. Rather, it is the excellently chosen child actors that make this film so successful. Maxime Godart, with his lovable rascal manner, is the perfect Nick, whom the viewer can't help but love - even when he's trying to kill his unborn brother. But the secret star among the kids is Victor Charles as Choldwig, who always takes a little longer to figure things out. In particular, his Rorschach test at the school exam and his slightly longer answer to the question of which river runs through Paris are just wonderful.
Although not all of the gags work and some moments are still very heavy on child-appropriate brute humor, the bottom line is that "Little Nick" is a very charming, endearing, and outrageously funny film that captures the wit and charm of the original very well and passes it on to the audience. Fortunately, thanks to the good dubbing, this also applies to the German version. Who missed this enchanting comedy in the cinema, should not miss the fun on DVD in any case. Absolutely recommendable!
Picture + Sound: The sometimes somewhat artificial-looking color scheme was very well implemented on the DVD. But also in terms of overall sharpness, the very clean picture can absolutely convince. Only in the detail sharpness and the contrasts there are here and there minimal point deductions. The sound is primarily dominated by the music and the dialogues, which have been mixed well understandable and pleasantly harmonious. Good!
Extras: Let's go to the bonus material with an audio commentary, in which the child actors remember the filming. A sometimes a little faltering, but charming commentary, which is optionally provided with German subtitles. The film continues with a Making of (approx. 34 min.), which is well worth seeing, and which of course also focuses on the child actors and shows how they coped with the daily routine of filming. Interviews (approx. 13 min.), filled with further glimpses behind the scenes, scenes from the casting (approx. 7 min.), a featurette in which the adult actors talk about their childhood pranks (approx. 7 min.), as well as a short look at the dubbing work (approx. 3 min.), a music clip by Renan Luce (approx. 3 min.), two teasers and a trailer round off the bonus material worth seeing. Alone for the Making of gives it a: Very good!
Conclusion: The cinema adaptation of the adventures of "Little Nick" is not only a good entertainment film for children, but for the whole family. Great cast and really funny, so the film could already inspire in the cinema. On DVD there is the whole thing in decent technical quality, enriched with a few very nice extras, to watch again and again. Absolutely recommendable!
Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp
