Sapphire Blue

I am sad that how fashions of Gideon is not known in Japan at least. I know that film is made in German and mainly taken in UK, super popular in Germany but honestly I am not sure that it does not familiar with in the world. Actually it is a simple storyline however it shows complicated emotions of teenagers. I love it. And any way, Gideon is cool.

Not having seen the first film I can judge this film only as a film in its own right and not as part of a saga of which this is the second chapter and I must say that doing this is difficult because as the second chapter it is tremendously linked to the first and without having given that understanding all the dynamics of this is impossible, for this reason I recommend watching the first chapter if you want to understand the plot of this one well which has neither a real beginning nor an end which in my opinion is treated in the next chapter being this a passing chapter and this is precisely the problem because the film has the air of a passing chapter of a series without anything too relevant that one could easily skip, for heaven's sake the film is also entertaining and not boring but it really has a plot that it doesn't have any kind of depth and really only seems passing through.

It may be the best movie to come after Ruby Red. Seriously, this series is legendary.

Being a fan of Sci-Fi movies, I looked at this one hoping to get a new approach of the "time travel" concept hoping for something new and appealing. It appeared that this is a film for teenagers (I am retired) and is focused on the main character (the blue saphir) and all her problems with her boyfriend and her best friend. Honnesty forces me to say that the realization (places, costumes, characters, and the little funny ghost) is very good but the plot is nowhere and no really clear to me. Not to mention that the film ends like crazy without knowing why it stops right there! I assume it is to introduce the next episode.

I loved the books by Kirsten Grier and the first movie, so I looked forward to seeing this part. In summary, where the movie followed the book, all was fine and interesting, but I completely hated all the deviations, such as Gwendolin's performance at the party (she was supposed to sing another song) and the reaction of her public - when she stripped off her clothes and everyone started dancing, it was ridiculous! Also, why on Earth would they make her and Gideon have sex?? Did they think it is obligatory for teens? I'm in my mid-twenties, so it's a bit hard for me to comprehend it. And lastly, Maria's contacts were simply disturbing, they were so much better in the first movie (reminds me of Twilight, where the contacts became worse and worse with each movie). All in all, nice movie for teens, but I expected more. Let's hope that third part will be better.

The romance continues between the two leads and its just as intense and exciting as in the first film. They argue, fall out and make up so much and it all seems so real. I liked the fight scenes (although they are not up to big budget hollywood standards). I loved the history hopping and the suitably dramatic ending that sets things up lovely for the final film. The cast are very attractive and once again the film moves along at such a pace that i forget that i'm watching in subtitles. I have little gripes of course. The songs sung in english are a bit cringy. Aunt maddy is played way over the top and the Count St Germain needs to be played with much more villainy. Maybe his wickedness was toned tone because of the younger audience? No matter though as i thought overall the film was loads of fun and addictively watchable.

I typically get some sort of enjoyment out of these cheesey teen romantic dramas but this movie was absolute garbage. Funny how a movie about time travel doesn't to know how to manage telling a story in time. Everything seemed rushed or like so much was left of the cutting room floor. And the Gargoyle! What was the point of the gargoyle that spots water. For such a rare being you think their importance would be greater. Could have just had a ghost fulfil the same plot advances and then at least it's already in the believable realm of what the first movie established. I truely feel I wasted my time with this one.

The film has the perfect ingredients for a nice young adult movie: magic, fantasy, well renowned German cast, excellent soundtrack, good storyline and romance. We have seen it with other trilogies, it is not always easy to write the middle part in a trilogy but in my opinion it was successful, the film had a good pace and fans of the books will be delighted to see the story come alive on the big screen. The differences to the book are small and do not affect the story. It is above all a movie for teenagers with a small budget but the producers have outdone themselves in my opinion and the movie is well worth watching.

If you have seen the first one (or read the books, haven't done the latter myself), you are already hooked. Still there is a "review" of sorts, with our main female protagonist "remembering" what happened up to the point we catch up to her. Obviously relationships have evolved and things go to the next level (also literally). The physics of time travel are sketchy and there are many secrets (especially for those who haven't read the book I reckon), but this is aimed at a younger audience and the viewer should know that. It's made clear after all from the beginning (in case you hadn't seen the first one "Rubinrot"). There are things that teenage girls have to deal with and those issues collide with the whole "saving the world or whatever" plot that is going on. You might not be intrigued by all that, but the audience this is aimed at, should be delighted.

"Saphirblau" or "Sapphire Blue" is the sequel to the German movie "Rubinrot" from one year earlier and it also runs for roughly 2 hours. Obviously they seem to like titles that consist of a jewel and a color as the third film will be called "Emerald Green". But the real question should be: Why oh why is there a third movie. I do not have a lot of hope this third installment will turn out better unless they completely get rid off the directors and writers who worked on films 1 and 2. These first two films did not have many good moments. There may be some actors in here whose faces are familiar to German audiences, but more for how prolific they are, not for how good they are, such as a certain Veronica Ferres. Maria Ehrich is bearable, not particularly good, but at least not as disastrous as male lead actor Jannis Niewöhner or the actress who plays the main character's best friend. That one is really bad. The name is Jennifer Lotsi and it's so painful to watch how she tries so hard to give a convincing "best friend" performance, but totally has no talent at all. Then again the script doesn't help her at all as it is very flawed from start to finish. The dialogs don't seem credible at all, but the biggest problem is possibly the action. This film wants to be taken seriously so much as a dramatic fantasy film with the time traveling aspect, but the story is just ridiculous. Plus, the characters' actions do not make sense on many occasions. Then they try to get humor in many times, but this isn't working either. And last, but not least, they have many references that make this film look like a coming-of-age love story movie, which is certainly the worst part. Truly cringeworthy. I would not mind at all if there will be no more books or films about Gwendolyn Shepherd. Oh yeah, don't even get me started on the pretentious English and French names and random French talking on several occasions. The worst scene? Probably when they start singing out of nowhere and this film also attempts to be a musical. Massive failure alert. This was a pretty bad viewing experience. If there is any reason to see it, it's maybe the camp factor. Films like this one are actually fairly dangerous as young audiences, especially girls, are not yet able to see what kind of crap they are being exposed to. So every good parent should make sure their kids stay far far away from garbage films like this one. Highly not recommended.