A Load of Old Dudu

The 'Superbug' or 'Dudu' series of films is something I've long been aware of but, until last week,I  had never seen any of the five films in the series. If you didn't know, these films are most often described as the German answer to Walt Disney's 'Herbie' films, like them featuring a VW Beetle car capable of performing amazing feats.  While 'Herbie' seemed to be possessed of some kind of living spirit, 'Dudu' (which, we're told in the English dub of the first film, which is set in Africa, is Swahili for 'bug' or 'insect'), is technologically enhanced by his owner, to the point in some films that it seems to have its own AI.  The films were produced in West Germany between 1971 and 1978, all directed by and starring Rudolf Zehetberger (billed as 'Robert Mark' in the English language versions of some films).  Aimed primarily at children, the films were cheaply made but popular.  The film I caught last week was the last of the series and not, as it turned out, a good starting point.  Made three years after the previous entry, Son of Superbug (aka The Return of Superbug) feels like an afterthought to the main series.  Indeed, it isn't really a 'Dudu' film at all - the eponymous VW is wrecked during the first five minutes or so, (which must have been pretty traumatic for kids who had seen the previous films).  Rather than repair or rebuild 'Dudu', the hero instead spends the rest of the film driving around in a six wheel all terrain vehicle - he is also accompanied by an irritating talking robot crab thing called 'Picho', which acts as a sort of 'Dudu' substitute.

Actually, the switch to the six wheeler is rather confusingly presented, in the English language version, at least.  After 'Dudu' is shoved down a steep slope, breaking apart in the process, we quickly cut between a shot of its body shell sliding away on its roof and its owner, (referred to in this film as 'El Gauncho' rather than 'Jimmi Bond' as he is in other films), tipping the six wheeler, which is on its side, upright.  The implication seems to be that the all terrain vehicle was originally incorporated into 'Dudu' - perhaps the original edit made this clearer.  So, in spirit, one could argue that 'Dudu' lives on in spirit for the rest of the film - except that his technological functions are now embodied in 'Picho' rather than the six wheeler.  (The original German title translates as 'Two Awesome Beetles Clean Up', with 'Dudu' and his successor six wheeler, by implication, the two Beetles).  Thereafter the film settles down into a treasure hunt of sorts, as various parties seek out a horde of stolen Mafia gold which has been hidden on Lanzarote.  These include the usual stereotypical Mafia don and his henchmen, the retired German army officer who masterminded the heist and a local shady millionaire who is also trying to dispose of his young nephew in order to get full control of the fortune he is heir to).  'El Gauncho', using 'Picho' and various other gadgets inevitably outwits them all and saves the boy.  The film is very roughly made and, in places, surprisingly violent for a film ostensibly aimed at kids - not to mention the fact that its kiddie-friendly hero is presented as an alcoholic.

I can honestly say that watching Son of Superbug didn't leave me wanting to watch any of the earlier entries in the series.  The fact that the dubbing isn't exactly brilliant and that, for its English language version, it seems to have been edited with a hammer and chisel  resulting in abrupt jumps in the narrative and an overall 'lumpy' fee; obviously doesn't help.  Nonetheless, it still comes over as a poorly constructed piece with an overly complicated plot, poor dialogur and wildly variable performances from the multinational cast.  Add to that the intensley irritating 'Picho', (at one point it looks as if a Mafia hoodlum played by Sal Borghese - well versed in playing this sort of comic relief incompetent sidekick from his many collaborations will Bud Spencer and Terence Hill - is going to shoot the robot: I was gleefully cheering him on), and you end up with a mind numbing experience like Son of Superbug.