Watched in the cinema (70th visit in 2022)

For a while, there was practically no escaping the figure of the kangaroo by author Marc-Uwe Kling in the German-speaking world. In addition to the radio plays that started the triumphant advance, the marsupial was at home in books, plus numerous merchandising. So it wasn't really a big surprise when this success was to be continued in the cinema. That also worked out relatively well. boxd.it/11sCPz

The distributor had a bit of bad luck with the timing of the release, because all theaters had to close a short time later as a result of the Corona pandemic and did not reopen until months later. However, a total of around 800,000 people flocked to cinemas to see "Die Känguru-Chroniken". So it was no wonder that work soon began on a sequel, which is now available as a finished version with "Die Känguru-Verschwörung."

This is good news for fans, all the more so since Kangaroo creator Marc-Uwe Kling was once again much more deeply involved in the production. In the first film, he was content with writing the script and taking over the voice of the kangaroo. He left the direction to Dani Levy. In "Die Känguru-Verschwörung" he takes over this position at the same time and thus puts a really fat stamp on the whole thing. This time - as the title suggests - he has taken conspiracy theorists as his enemy, after the last time it was real estate sharks and right-wing idiots. However, Corona is not the target, even if that would have been obvious. Instead, he goes after those who deny or at least downplay climate change.

As a target, it's grateful. Many of the jokes almost write themselves; all you have to do is take the "arguments" of the conspiracy groups and repeat them verbatim. Why people believe them, however, is not apparent from the film. The fundamentally exciting question of how to free people from this intellectual hole is answered just as little in this way. This is a bit of a pity. For a film that wants to initiate social debates - and "Die Känguru-Verschwörung" does that, as did the predecessor- this is rather thin. It's more about the fun than any real debate.

The film is really funny, at least selectively. Especially Benno Fürmann as a slick seducer and Petra Kleinert in the role of the resolute I-don't-let-anything-go-sideways thinker are valuable new additions to the kangaroo world. However, this is at the expense of other characters. For example, the people from the neighborhood make appearances in the film again. But they don't have anything relevant to do, which is a shame, especially in Maria's (Rosalie Thomass) case. She is the reason why the odyssey is started in the first place. But she is hardly integrated in the action. The subplot about her ex, who is back, is ultimately too weak for that.

However, this is symptomatic of a film where somehow everything is addressed or attempted at one time or another without caring about an overall concept. "Die Känguru-Verschwörung" corresponds over longer stretches to a sketch show that is only held together makeshiftly by a parenthesis of content. Some of these sketches are very entertaining, are marked by the anarchy for which Marc-Uwe Kling has become famous. But not every shot hits its target. In fact, there are occasional phases in between where idle time is the order of the day. All in all, the pluses outweigh the negatives, which is why, together with the once again well-performing ensemble, a trip to the cinema is definitely worthwhile. With a better balance, however, more could have been achieved.

Because Letterboxd doesn't give you the trailer, I do: youtu.be/jQyx4WEn7RM