Jim Button and the City of Dragons – Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer (2018)

Directed by: Dennis Gansel | 100 minutes | adventure, family | Actors: Henning Baum, Solomon Gordon, Annette Frier, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Christoph Maria Herbst, Milan Peschel, Rick Kavanian, Eden Gough, Leighanne Esperanzate, Leighanne Esperanzate, Kao Chenmin, Ozzie Yue, Volker Michalowski, Alex Liang, Hon Ping Tang, Yu Fang, Darryl Quon

The name Michael Ende may not ring a bell with everyone, but ‘The Neverending Story’ all the more so. This epic fantasy tale that this German writer published in 1979 became very successful and a film adaptation was not long in coming. Wolfgang Petersen directed what at the time became the most expensive German film ever, in fact: the most expensive film in the world, outside the United States and the Soviet Union! Almost twenty years earlier, Michael Ende made his debut with ‘Jim Knopf und Lukas das Lokomotivführer’ (1960). He has won several children’s literature prizes, including a nomination for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award. The book was translated in various countries and the film and television world eagerly dived into this imaginative story. There are countless adaptations of the book, especially that of the Augsburger Puppenkiste lives on in many (German) hearts. As it was time for a new generation to meet Jim Knopf and Lukas the operator, a live action film was released in 2018. In the Netherlands it appears in dubbed form under the title ‘Jim Button and the city of dragons’.

With a budget of 25 million euros, ‘Jim Button and the city of dragons’ once again breaks the record for largest German production… until inflation catches up, of course. That budget definitely pays off: this kid-focused fantasy/adventure film looks to be passable. The CGI effects are grand and convincing, the worlds created are breathtaking and the decorations and costumes are very detailed. Children will be amazed at this film.

Unfortunately, this children’s film lacks the factors of tension and logic. The story is barely captivating and has a great ‘and then, and then’ content. Problems are solved with ease, with the writer’s thumb appearing bigger than the viewer’s involvement. Are Jim and Lukas trapped somewhere? Then a solution quickly presents itself, without regard for the available resources. That continuous ‘level up’ will get annoying at some point. It also doesn’t help that most of the actors seem a bit stiff. There is no chemistry between the two protagonists. That’s problematic, because Henning Baum, who here seems to be a reincarnation of Bud Spencer, and Solomon Gordon, have to carry a large part of the film together. The choices that are made as a result feel unreal.

What remains is a visually overwhelming spectacle that has trouble holding the viewer’s attention. Because the humor is mainly aimed at very young children and the film hardly surprises, few viewers will have warm feelings about this. Pity.