The Pirates Next Door (2020)

Directed by: Pim van Hoeve | 94 minutes | family | Actors: Matti Stooker, Samuel Beau Reurekas, Celeste Holsheimer, Egbert Jan Weeber, Tygo Gernandt, Sarah Janneh, David Lucieer, Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Bert Hana, Sytske van der Ster, Peter van Heeringen, Anne-Marie Jung, Ilse Warringa

Brabander Reggie Naus had no idea what he wanted to be when he grew up. He liked to draw and often as a child, so when he went to the Art Academy, nobody around him was surprised. But he did not finish that training and did not become a draftsman. “I would have loved to have become a pirate, but once I got aboard a ship in a storm, I got so seasick that I changed my mind,” said Naus. Not that he immediately knew what he wanted to become, because that took a while. “After all, you only live once and then you have to do something you really enjoy. And that was, in addition to travelling, rummaging through old books.” Because his house is full of them: history books about pirates, adventurers and buccaneers. Eventually, Naus became more and more interested in writing himself. Once he started doing that, he really got a taste of it. From more ‘serious’ work (history books for adults and articles for newspapers and magazines), he shifted his attention to fictional stories. With that, Nas had finally found his passion. His first children’s book was published in 2008, ‘The Treasure of Squid Island’, in which – of course – pirates and buccaneers play a leading role!

Naus’ most successful book series is ‘The pirates from next door’, about the pirate family Donderbus who comes to live in the quiet village of Zandwijk aan Zee. Producer Johan Nijenhuis also thought that a book series that lends itself perfectly for a film adaptation, who has already found himself in the genre of ‘Foeksia de miniheks’ (2010), ‘Bennie Stout’ (2011) and ‘Apenstreken’ (2015), among others. the youth film. He managed to get Pim van Hoeve, who we know from the film series about ‘Dummie de Mummy’, for the direction. ‘Flodder Meets Pirates of the Caribbean, but for children’, that’s how you could sum up the film adaptation of ‘De Piraten van Hier next’ (2020) in one slogan. A maladjusted, colorful family takes up residence in a slumbered village, and in this case it is a real pirate family. Father Hector (Egbert-Jan Weeber got a good look at Johnny Depp’s iconic character Jack Sparrow), mother Betsie (Sarah Janneh) and their son Billy (Samuel Beau Reurekas) have their pirate ship, their pet (a cute ‘watch shark’) and grandfather – a real sea bonk with a wooden leg, eye patch and alcohol problem – taken to Zandwijk aan Zee. They fight with swords and eat with daggers and forks. Initially, these strangers are not really warmly received by the respectable Zandwijkers, because aren’t they just ‘ordinary fortune seekers’? However, eleven-year-old Michiel Brugman (Matti Stooker) and his girl next door Elizabeth (Celeste Holsheimer) become close friends with Billy and discover that the Thunderbus family is on the run from their nemesis Knokige Krelis (Tygo Gernandt), in a role that fits him perfectly. is), who still has a bone to pick with Hector. Together they fight this savage.

The adult cast of ‘The Pirates of Here Next’, in particular Weeber and Gernandt, are going old-fashioned (and who wouldn’t if they could play ‘pirate’ again?), with the result that the fun of the game is lost. splashed off at them. This is contagious, because we are lovingly condoning the fact that ‘The Pirates of the Neighbors’ is very well behaved and neatly colored within the lines, especially for a film about such an unconventional family as the Donderbusjes. The imaginative finds from Naus’ books are convincingly brought to life, with colorful sets, sets, clothing, make-up and special effects that are perfectly fine. The children play a little less convincingly, but with no less fun than their adult opponents. For the film adaptation, a number of things have been adjusted compared to the book. To appeal to girls too, screenwriter Sander de Regt (‘De Familie Slim’, 2017) invented the character Elizabeth. To make it completely politically correct, he eventually lets her join the sword fight. That could have been a little more subtle. The fact that the Zandwijkers do not exactly welcome the ‘foreigners’ with open arms is, of course, primarily intended to hold up a mirror to watching adults. Children’s films are rarely subtle, but here it is very thick. It’s a good thing that ‘The Pirates of Here Next’ with its entertaining adventures, enthusiastic actors and beautiful sets knows how to counteract that.