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Grand, disarming 'girl-power' entertainment for young and old alike
Something of a rarity is the truly well made and successful family movie, but this specific genre is also extremely difficult to master because here the target audience is much wider than for practically any other type of film. It's all about finding - and maintaining - that certain balance where you accommodate both the parents and their kids, but most often I find the end results either too adult or way too childish. Klatretøsen (Catch That Girl), however, hits exactly the right note from the very beginning and with a story that offers an intelligent, refreshing mix of comedy, suspense, action - and a wee bit of romance, girls as well as boys should get a major kick out of this highly enjoyable, stylish and fast paced adventure that also boasts a superb score and an array of electrifying hit songs from the likes of 'Michael Learns to Rock' and 'eyeQ' - which compliments the content perfectly.
Though made some years after the Spice Girls craze, the term 'girl power' was still very much alive in 2002 and well in tune with the times Klatretøsen features a young teen heroine who's intelligent, headstrong, determined and agile, skills that certainly come in handy in this Mission: Impossible-style caper story. Once a passionate mountaineer, Klaus (Lars Bom) has since then retired due to a near fatal accident on Mount Everest some time ago and now manages a go-cart race track where his 12-year-old daughter Ida (Julie Zangenberg) helps out along with her two friends, the self-confident, dreadlocked womanizer Sebastian (a great turn by Stefan Pagels Andersen) and the more shy wiz kid Jonas (charming Mads Ravn), both of whom are madly in love with ... guess who. And on a nearby tower Ida - unbeknownst to her parents - works on improving her inherited climbing abilities whenever she has the time.
But then one day a tragic accident occurs. Ida's father suddenly collapses on the living room floor, paralyzed from the neck down, and upon further examination it turns out that it's a side-effect from his old mountain injury which, if not treated in time, could cause him to die sometime in the near future. But there's a catch: This particular operation, which is still on an experimental state, is at present only performed in the United States - and costs a mere sum of one and a half million Danish crowns. His wife Maria (Nastja Arcel) tries her best to get a loan through, but all in vein - it seems that Klaus' prospects may not be that promising, dire in fact. Unwilling to accept these circumstances Ida then comes up with a desperate last resort to get the required amount: Breaking into a bank, and not just any bank, but the one where her mother Maria works.
Many problems abound. In order to reach the money Ida has to get past a couple of ferocious guard dogs, avoid being detected by the numerous surveillance cameras, by-pass a newly developed high-security system and then enter a vault which is suspended inside a large shaft 30 meters above the ground. The last part is certainly a task that will put her skills (and stamina) to the ultimate test, but to get that far she will need some kind of assistance, and this is where her two friends Sebastian and Jonas come in. Unfortunately, on the night of the break-in Ida is forced to look after her 2-year-old brother who's then brought along for the ride - and when will the rivaling boys figure out, that Ida has in fact secretly promised each of them that she wanted to go steady in return for their help on this mission? Is this just a minor insignificant detail or a disaster waiting to happen?
One detail - and an absolutely crucial one - that sets Klatretøsen apart from numerous other entries in the genre is director Hans Fabian Wullenweber's approach to the story. Children are much more perceptive than they usually get credit for, something that is commonly overlooked by many directors and in the worst cases their movies become excruciatingly heavy-handed and downright patronizing, with adults portrayed as completely infantile. A clear sign of an embarrassing disrespect for the young viewers, but Wullenweber doesn't make that same mistake - as something almost totally unique and ingenious he dares to take his material seriously, even though this is 'just' entertainment, while still executing the narrative on the children's terms. This is his master stroke and it does indeed make a world of difference.
Working in favor for the movie as well is that the series of events are (relatively speaking) kept on a realistic level. Many adventure movies aimed at kids suffer badly from a lack of restraint and often feature an overwhelming amount of spectacular CGI effects that, while certainly impressive, unfortunately also threaten to take away the focus from the actual story, thereby giving the proceedings an uncomfortable air of super- and artificiality - Spy Kids, anyone? Obviously a matter of taste, but I personally prefer suspense over action and when characters take center stage, but make no mistake - Klatretøsen does have its share of riveting obstacles for our petite heroes, and in addition to all of the expected perilous climbing action there's some gripping escape sequences as well, including a kinetic, high-octane go-cart chase.
Now, about the inevitable moral issues: The reason why you unconditionally buy into the girl's risky - and not to forget absolutely illegal - endeavor, is because she isn't after the money itself but is in fact simply trying to save her father from a thankless, painful fate. It's an act of pure, innocent love that could only come from a child and this aspect of the story adds an invaluable human dimension to the numerous cliffhanger sequences - there's definitely much at stake which constantly keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats and their eyes peeled to the screen. The moments between Zangenberg and Bom (in a wonderful, touching performance) are strong, believable and quietly moving and thus more than justify Ida's decisions on an emotional level.
And it most certainly doesn't make matters worse that young leading actress Julie Zangenberg is absolutely adorable and delivers an amazingly assured and astute performance to boot. With loads of charisma she's a true find for the role of Ida, an engrossing, intense screen presence whose natural and girlish appearance is completely irresistible (it's no big surprise she's able to wrap her two hopeful beaus around her little finger), and she handles the funny as well as the dramatic aspects of her character equally convincing - just watch her wonderfully subdued but no less evocative facial expressions that easily demonstrate the incredibly wide range of her talent. And she even performs all of her own stunts! Regardless of what she decides to do in the future, there's no way of getting around it - she's destined to break a lot of young boys' hearts. Watch out, guys.
First time I went to see this was at the age of 29 - and I even managed to convince my older sister as well as my parents to tag along. We all had a blast, not just because of experiencing the excitement of all the cheering youngsters in the cinema (although this is always a joy), but simply because the film is genuinely satisfying, well made and splendidly acted by a more than competent cast - with Anders W. Berthelsen as a Karate Kid-obsessed security guard/freak and magnetic Janus Nabil Bakrawi as an enthusiastic dog trainer being likeable, comical highlights. Over the past couple of years I've watched Klatretøsen repeatedly and still haven't tired from it - and I personally guaranty that neither will you. But now I've talked enough, which just leaves me one thing to say: Catch this gem - and do it now! 
René Pedersen, April 11th, 2006
Picture: 10/10
What a truly stellar presentation of a marvelous movie. The explosive color scheme is perfectly rendered and looks warm and vibrant, brightness is spot-on and equally impressive are the deep blacks and bright whites. Sharpness stays strong throughout with a high level of detail, even in the darker areas, and print damage is virtually non-existing - which is no big surprise, seeing this is a recent production. There were no noticeable signs of edge enhancement or compression artifacts. The image is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio - anamorphically enhanced, of course.
Sound: 9/10
In Danish productions we're not often treated to large-scale, dynamic surround mixes, which is why this particular effort comes as a nice surprise. You have the choice of listening to the original Danish soundtrack in either Dolby Digital 2.0 surround or full-blooded Dolby Digital 5.1 - and if you've got the required equipment, I strongly recommend choosing the latter. There's a lot of movement between the front speakers as well as the surrounds, and sound effects, dialog and music come through crispy clear, without any kind of distortion or hissing whatsoever. Your subwoofer certainly also gets to strut its stuff in selected scenes - the powerful, but controlled low frequency signals go directly for the solar plexus when the music starts playing, and the explosion during the go-cart chase truly packs a punch. Hold on.
Extras: 9/10
Sadly, none of the extras are provided with subtitles, so unless you happen to speak Danish, you probably will not get a whole lot out of the supplementary features presented here. But for those who do the extras section kicks off with a thoroughly enjoyable feature length commentary track with the director Hans Fabian Wullenweber and his three young stars, Julie Zangenberg, Stefan Pagels Andersen and Mads Ravn. It shines through that this film has been a major experience for all involved (well, perhaps the kids in particular) and each of them contribute with valuable information and funny anecdotes about the shooting of certain scenes - it's quite amusing to realize that in the scene where Pagels Andersen delivers some of his most solid acting he felt extremely queasy and threw up immediately after the end of the take. A funny thing - while listening to this track not once did it enter my mind that I was in fact listening to people at the age of just 14 or 16 - they all appeared exceptionally perceptive, observant and bright and sounded like they'd been doing this for a long time. And even though they're all very proud of this movie (and rightfully so) they're not shy about pointing out some continuity errors along the way. Very unique indeed. Next up is the original theatrical trailer and teaser (both anamorphically enhanced and running 1.47 min. and 0.27 min. respectively) followed by the test shoots (13.33 min.) of the young actors where the very relaxed, thoughtful and sympathetic director Wullenweber explains what qualities he was looking for and what considerations went into the final casting of the girl and the boys. It's very fascinating to see young Zangenberg display a wide variety of emotions - most of them in just one, single take. In a 'Behind-the-scenes'-feature (24.00 min.) the three endearing and very animate kids take us through the shooting of specific scenes and explain about some of the preparations that went ahead (e.g. the climbing and go-cart training). Like in the movie, their mutual chemistry really shows. The next feature presents three deleted scenes (3.26 min.) and while they're being played back-to-back the director explains why they weren't included in the final cut. Then you find an excerpt from a live television show for kids (14.57 min.) that was broadcast close to Klatretøsen's domestic cinematic release. It starts off with a brief interview with each of the movie's three protagonists but the majority of the running time is taken up by some more backstage-footage which solely revolves around Julie Zangenberg and covers some ground not seen in the aforementioned 'Behind-the-scenes'-feature. Eloquent, lively and charming as hell, I personally can't get enough of this actress. To round out this excellent package there's also some DVD-ROM contents which enables you to enter this movie's homepage off-line on your computer.
Final thoughts:
As with so many other brilliant European movies, Klatretøsen has also been 'blessed' with an American remake which is called Catch That Kid. But take my word for it: Go with the original - and this transfer both looks and sounds great. And with the inclusion of English subtitles for the main feature (a shame about the extras not being subtitled, though), this DVD is unquestionably the best way to go for the English speaking audiences who feel like taking a crack at this top-notch production.
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