I watched “The Musicians of Bremen” (2024) in the cinema and was surprised. Better than the original or not

The beginning of the year turned out to be eventful not only thanks to the release of the sequel to “Slave”. Together with him, a remake of “The Town Musicians of Bremen” was launched in wide release.

The director of the project is Alexei Nuzhny, who directed the good films “Fire” and “Speakerphone”, and also had a hand in the popular TV series “Olga”. In recent years he has managed to release several interesting projects, so there is a little protection from the author.

I’ll be honest: the trailer didn’t give me much hope. And for this reason, expectations were lowered initially.

What happened in the end? We have already seen the new film in the cinema and are eager to share our impressions.

Was a remake necessary?

Let’s say right away: no. This is already a classic of Russian cinema and one of the best cartoons that looks good even in 2024. And here they actually decided to remake the picture into a film.

What is the movie about: Trubsamadur and his fellow rascals – the Dog, the Cat, the Donkey and the narcissistic Rooster – are interdependent to accomplish feats. Traveling musicians, led by a new leader, will once again rally to bring laughter and joy to the dark streets of Bremen. First of all, they must make the King’s daughter laugh, but meeting the Princess threatens a dangerous adventure.

The Troubadour and his friends face treacherous enemies, intrigues and traps, but love must be told. And then the princess ran away from the palace. In one club – the criminal schemes of the Robbers, the intrigues of the Detective, the whims and secrets of the royal family, but cheerful musicians with the tireless Troubadour will make everyone dance to their tune. What are the Bremen Town Musicians willing to do for the sake of this feat?

The film’s trailer did not bode well. The specific images of the main characters literally killed the desire to watch the new product. If the actors had been given a touch of darkness, they would have looked much better.

The closest analogue that comes to mind is “Mama” from 1976. There they managed to make the animals much more pleasant to watch. And here, it feels like they look like in a cheap slasher film “Winnie the Pooh. Blood and Honey,” which many viewers suddenly liked. Probably, the authors decided to do the same here.

And these characteristics continue throughout the film. He is too naive, and the events taking place are far-fetched. But for some reason you believe it. I can’t find any clear reasons for this, to be honest.

Here’s a scene, for example. Everything is on fire, the heroes need to choose confidence, and it’s not even their will that saves them, just a damn song. Stupid? Is it tense? And for some reason you like it.

I don’t want to compare this movie with the original at all. It’s just different. The plot is broadly similar, but it is different from what any country knows.

If earlier the troupe was driven by the spirit of adventurism, now it’s even difficult to say why this happened. They all, for their own reasons, went out onto the street and resigned themselves to this life, but at the same time they are afraid of everything. These are different images, completely unfamiliar to us from childhood.

The authors clearly decided to come here from a different angle. They left the musical component, because it is still a musical, but added various events. There are good and thoughtful ones, there are unceremonious and stupid ones. They constantly mix with each other.

Among the cast, two were involved for me personally. This is Sergei Burunov in the image of the King and Konstantin Khabensky in the Detective video. Both take their charisma from the first manifestations. However, in the case of Khabensky, I got the impression that his hero was copied almost entirely from the analogue from “An Hour Before Dawn”. The same crude strategy that only cares about the goal and does not care about other people’s problems.

However, despite the idiosyncratic cast, filled with artists of varying calibers, the staged musical scenes are impressive. But there are too many of them here.

You believe in this world, but it’s also stupid

Absolutely everything is based on the fact that vision will initially allow the same thing as the script authors. This is a fairy-tale musical where everything is decided by the philosopher-creator.

And the main word here is fabulous. This gives rise to countless conventions on which the painting rests. But they are not full of great variety.

Despite the abundance of strange and sometimes stupid moments, the overall atmosphere is pleasant.

The only thing that takes away from the atmosphere of the continental era is the presence of modern words. They strive to appear in one frame or another, and it really infuriates.

Should I watch or not? And is the original better?

I repeat. Comparing with the original I don’t see any point. This is an independent film, which is extremely different from the Soviet classics.

For something to watch on a January weekend, The Town Musicians of Bremen is perfectly accurate. If for some reason (completely incomprehensible to me) you didn’t like “Slave 2,” then your choice may fall on this movie among the new films of 2024. It looks much better than in the trailer. But it still doesn’t reach the level of quality films.

Final verdict: you can watch it once, with your head completely turned off. Doesn’t pretend to be a big picture. There are more worthy contenders.