Sapphire Blue (2014)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

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.

"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.

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.

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.