"Lommbock" is a German movie from 2017, freshly released this year and it is the sequel to the 2011 movie "Lammbock", so it's been over 15 years already since the original. Seems as if 2017 is a year for sequels after long breaks as we had T2 already and now we have the German equivalent, even if guns of course don't play a role in here. It is all about marijuana again, at least to some extent. Zübert returns as writer and director and several cast members do the same. This includes lead actors Gregorowicz and Bleibtreu as well as supporting players Wepper, Nelden, Möhring and Monot, maybe others too. This new movie runs for 105 minutes roughly and let me say first that I am not a weed smoker at all and that I did not really like the first film at all. Taking these two factors into account, it is somewhat impressive that I kinda ended up liking this new movie here. The main, pretty much the only reason, is Moritz Bleibtreu, who nailed all the comedic parts from start to finish and elevated the material by miles and miles. I somewhat liked him before this film already, but my respect for him grew even more because here he proved that even if his most known works are exclusively dramatic and actually pretty old already ("Lola rennt", "Das Experiment"),he can also do a pretty amazing job with comedy. It can be entire scenes like when he things the pig farm is a secret hideout for a marijuana plant or single small moments like when he is impressed by the amount of money the boy makes every month with his weed dealing business. And there are many more example of that.
Sadly, the consequence is also that every time when Bleibtreu is not on screen the film loses a great deal of quality, be it the scenes with Gregorowicz and Neldel, the scenes with the central character's soon-to-be wife, the scene for example with Gregorowicz' character and his dad that felt really pointless and rushed in or the fairly embarrassing Mehmet Scholl cameo. It's just not on the same level anymore without Bliebtreu and I would not really blame Gregorowicz, but rather the screenplay. At times also Gregorowicz almost seems like one who is watching Bleibtreu let it all out in a way that we, the audience, do. Also not all the comedy is working. For example the scenes with the Polish dialogue could have been left out completely as this already wasn't funny the very first time. The fake urine part towards the end is also a bit for the sake of it and only worth some cheap laughs. I still give the film a bit of a thumbs-up as the nostalgia part was done fairly convincingly by Zübert I guess as I as one who like I already said did not really like the first film felt said nostalgia a bit, so those who liked/loved the first will feel it even more. It may generally be a good idea to (re)watch the first before checking this one out. But this new movie is really only a success when it comes to the funny moments (many of them). The dramatic moments like the previously mentioned father-son struggles, the moment when Bleibtreu's character says Gregorowicz' only came back because he needed something or also the split-up at the very end almost are moments that hurt the film more than they helped. Still being kinda generous here I give this film three out of five stars and looking at the pretty weak quality of German comedies these days, maybe this one is as good as it gets for now as it at least has some funny moments and also does not take itself as seriously like some recent Schweig(höf)er films. Lommbock is worth checking out, but you may want to see the first film first and then decide for yourself if you are willing to spend another 100 minutes on these characters, so it is a bit on the pointless side for me to (not) give a recommendation. I'm just curious if there will be a third film at some point. I guess the three key players (Gregorowicz, Bleibtreu and Zübert) are still young enough 10-15 years from now, so if they reach the level of this second film once again I'd say why not.
Keywords: sequelbuddystoner movie
Plot summary
Sequel to Lammbock. Stefan and Kai meet again after years. Stefan became a successful lawyer in Dubai while Kai is stuck in their home town. Kai has relationship issues and is trying hard to get in touch with his step son who is getting in serious trouble with some drug dealers. Can Kai and Stefan solve his problems? And what happened to their old friend Frank?
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Movie Reviews
Back to the weeds
The story/saga continues
Lammbock was made 16 years before this and the characters have ages (as have the actors obviously). The two main characters have even grown apart a little bit. But they still have mad love for each other. And while I would think that you can enjoy this, without having seen the previous movie, I would recommend to watch it before you see this.
This does not reach the highs (no pun intended I think) from the first entry, but it is still funny to say the least. It'd be interesting to see them making another one in 10 years or so. I would watch it. Was a good idea to wait to come up with a funny story and give the characters some room to breathe and have gone through stuff. This will still be able to offend people as was the first one. But as with the first one, you don't have to have used ... drugs (taken them),to find the humor in it. A more than decent follow-up/sequel
Guess you need to be stoned to call it great.
The first one was decent, the second one has its ups and downs. To cut a long story short: it's a nice sequel. They got the main cast back together and there are a few references to the 2001 movie Lammbock.
This one however lacks a truly original plot. It's also very predictable, but I don't want to get into that in particular because I don't want to spoil anything for anybody (who might not see certain things coming from a mile away).
The fact that the characters suddenly speak Polish in some parts is just off-putting. I understand this is considered a stylistic element but it's also just annoying.
Bottom-line: it's entertaining and alright to watch, but nowhere near a 7.something rating.
Most good (and great movies) I watch at least twice. This is not one of those movies.