Actually German: Superbug Goes Wild

Back due to zero demand!  The German Superbug series is obscure to say the least.  Well, in America, anyways.  With six films that IMDB lists- one of which is mostly a clip-show-, the series is pretty prolific.  Of course, a number of things keep it from American fame.  One- it's a comedy series spun off from The Love Bug.  This film actually addresses the Herbie connection, since it came before Superbug: Secret Agent.  Oops- my bad.  Second- only the second and third films are available on Netflix.  Third- their copies are bad, VHS rips with no choice of the original German soundtrack and/or Subtitles.  You get what barely got released on VHS- deal with it!  So what is the film about?  Well, it explains the origin of the Superbug Dudu, although no really.  The bulk of the film is a series of skits around a major set-piece.  Still interested?  Well, I already watched this movie- being a Completionist is rough sometimes- so you're just going to have to pretend to care. Vroom vroom read on...

The whole film is centered around a big Rally Race in the African Plains.  Early on, we see that a rich guy who plans to enter the race has a 'famous movie car' bought for him by his wife.  It's this car...

Yes, this movie series flat out says that it's 'lead' is actually Herbie, just improved.  That's sad.

Speaking of sad, this movie does a handful of silly car stunts...with toys.  I actually wanted more of these, just because it was inadvertently more funny than the actual comedy.

All of that stuff about the movie being in Africa is a bit iffy as most of the animals appear as part of blatant stock footage.  When you actually see an animal and a star in the same shot, it's mind-blowing!!!

Is the idea of a Hovercraft racing a VW Bug interesting?  I hope so, because it's about the only thing that happens in this movie.

As a bonus, our hero spends 80% of the race just following the guy in the Hovercraft seeking a job driving with him.  No, really.

Holy shit- an Animal and an Actor in the same shot!  It's a shame that this is all just a pointless sight-gag that leads to nothing.  Yea.

I should mention that this film does nothing to set up our hero as a Spy, nor does it really explain why Dudu/Herbie has a computerized brain and can think.  Superbug: Secret Agent is looking weirder and weirder...

Do you really care about the stupid Rally Race plot?  After forty-five minutes, I sure did.  Let's just close with one more Toy F/X shot and call it a day!  The End.

Even if you're forgiving, this movie is pretty bad.  Here's the thing: it's a really broad, unfocused comedy.  The story is pretty unimportant to the whole thing.  It's just a way to have 'wacky' things happen.  Hell, some characters literally exist merely to distract from the forward momentum of the story.  A Nun and a pregnant woman come into the story to keep two characters from winning the race.  I guess it's supposed to make them look good for helping, but whatever.  Our hero's friend- who later runs a Spy Agency- is here to keep stopping our hero from his forward momentum as well.  She has no other thing to bring to this story.  That's the biggest problem though- the lack of interesting characters.  With such broad writing, the characters are more like vague ideas of what people should be.  They are big, broad stereotypes who would be offensive if anyone in America other than me had actually watched this movie.  It's a simple premise- wacky things happen during a Rally Race- that is just ruined by stupid, stupid writing & bad execution.  Of course, I could just be a bit too harsh.  What do you think, Face That Will Haunt Your Nightmares for Weeks?

Next up, a film that's a sequel to a 1998 film from China, but not the 2002 show-turned-film.  Of course, it's also not a sequel so...*BANG*  Stay tuned...