Journey to Saturn

Rejsen til Saturn is at heart a comedy, filled with jokes, slapstick humor, and a story that itself is mostly a joke. This makes the film feel like a 90 minute stand-up show, where there is far between the jokes that make the entire theater roar with laughter, and only a quarter of the jokes will make you giggle. All the characters except Susanne (Iben Hjejle) are caricatures and coupled with a story that never lets you suspend your disbelief, we are left with a mediocre stand-up show built on a mediocre story.

With a star-specked cast you would definitely have expected more, and you get the feeling that it is not for lack of trying, but more likely a result of trying too much. Trying to get so many jokes and fantastic events and places packed in, that too many unfunny jokes and badly paced elements slipped through.

The animation and sound effects don't break any new ground, but are very competent and never gets in the way of the story. Considering the story and humor are both sub-par that may actually have be a bad thing, because with some greater artistic depth in the scenery the film might have been worth watching for that alone.

It's hard to recommend Rejsen til Saturn, but at the same time it's a movie you don't really want to see fail. There is great potential all around, the execution here just doesn't do it justice, but you are left with the clear feeling that the next film can be much better - if there will be one.

If you want to support more Danish animation films I suggest you go see it. It won't be a complete waste of your time, and there will be some good laughs - but unfortunately not nearly enough.

When I went to the theater to watch this title, I was very excited and my expectations were sky high. The trailers had been hilarious and the hype about the movie had been massive as well. When I left the theater I was disappointed.. Very. The only one who actually brings us some good laughs with his part is Arne Skrydsbøl (Frank Hvam) -the rest is of the cast is very disappointing, especially I would have expected Simon Jul to deliver a much more fun voice-cover than this.. Now don't misunderstand me, this is indeed a funny movie, but with the hype and trailers out for this movie, you will probably be expecting a legendary laugh like me. Lower your expectations and enjoy the decent laughs in this movie is my advice.

Rejsen til Saturn by Claus Deleuran is one of the best Danish comics ever created - some will say the best. Deleuran had the idea for the story already as a child in the 1950's, and in the 1970's, he decided to realize the project. The result was a 60 page book, where every Picture on every page bristled with ideas and childlike fantasy. Everything made with a painstaking sense for detail. The humor was not rude as in the movie - it was more Tati than Will Ferrell. Later on Deleuran started an enormous project - The Illustrated history of Denmark - but unfortunate he died in the middle of making book 9. Its descriptions are so detailed, that he had only reached the Middle ages by then. And no one was or will be able to take over the Work after a genius like him. And now this. I don't know how or why the rights ended with these producers, maybe they have sweet-talked some of the people close to him or declared their willingness to do it with respect for his art. But this has (apart from the idea of a spaceship with Danes) nothing to do with the feel of the original Work. Instead you get a lot of tasteless jokes in the vein of mediocre stand-up.