Im Auftrag des Vatikans (2006) (TV)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Diethard Küster

Writers:

Gunar Hochheiden (story)
Dieter Tarnowski (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 March 2006 (Germany)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

A full-throttle action adventure.

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jef Bayonne	...	Ben
Stephan Bieker	...	Gladius
Ken Bones	...	Saratoga
Annette Culp	...	Officer müller
Amerjit Deu	...	Chander
Simon Dutton	...	Matthias
Mario Irrek	...	Jurek
Waldemar Kobus	...	Blinder
Bettina Lamprecht	...	Sandra
Mathis Landwehr	...	Lasko
Michelle MacErlean	...	Zandi
Norman Matt	...	Lasko (voice)
Steve Nicolson	...	Leiter
Joey Stetz	...	Joey
Arnold Vosloo	...	Lennart
Luca Zamperoni	...	Sekretär im Vatikan

Also Known As:

Death Train (USA)
Lasko (Germany) (working title)

Runtime:

Germany:90 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Cologne, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company:

Action Concept

Movie Connections:

Followed by "Lasko - Die Faust Gottes" (2009)

A decent low-intensity action flick; remarkable because…

It was guilty of something fairly rare in action films: it had really good character development and a parade of characters centering on a situation instead of the "unstoppable fighter" persona so often seen in American films.

The action in this movie is second to the clockwork of characters acting within the situation they find themselves in, and I think that is what causes the lower ratings this movie gets at present. People are expecting a popcorn chewing, Stephen Segalesque brainless smack-fest and instead are treated to a decent cerebral thriller. With a very subtle sense of humor. (An instrumental "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Stones begins playing when Lennart says "Just call me Lucifer", for example.)

So the tension builds very early in the film to a warble and never relents until the very end. The peaks and valleys seen in contemporary writing are refreshingly absent here. The pace reminded me of some of the older, really good, espionage films of the '70s and early '80s.

Continuing the good; there weren't any cartoonishly evil characters nor sparkling ridiculous good guys. I could believe that Lennart (Arnold Vosloo) might've had a wife and kids to go home to. They all seemed "alive".

In fact, all the actors presented decent performances and the only one that stands out is Stephan Bieker. Stephan takes over every scene he's in and I think he's going to be a great actor.

However, the film isn't perfect, and its largest flaw is that of having too much story to cover in a short time. I felt that it could've easily been a 3 hour movie, and if it were filmed in the same manner, it'd have been a *great* film.

In short; the movie was a good effort, and it provided a really cool story with neat characters, but was ultimately too "smart" for an action flick and too short to tell the tale that needed to be spun. 6.5/10.