Keet & Koen De Speurtocht naar Bassie & Adriaan (DVD) – Movie Review
Bassie and Adriaan were a very famous, amusing and adventurous duo who lived the peak of their career in the eighties and nineties and faded slowly into the background after that. Nonetheless, those who followed them as children still remember their adventures up until this day, and it seems they will have their time to shine once again, albeit with a new comedic duo in the lead, namely Keet and Koen, who are still in the spring of their lives. While Bassie and Adriaan may have reached a very fruitful age already, it seems their elderly arch nemesis is still up to no good.
The dynamic duo that consists of Bassie (Bas van Toor) and Adriaan (Aad van Toor) has been enjoying their retirement in their cozy home, filled with tons of trinkets from their adventures, in which they often defeated their arch nemesis, the Baron (Aad van Toor). Even though those days are now far behind them, their local community wishes to pay tribute to them by handing them over two cream points in massive gold. Seeing cream points are Bassie’s favorite dish he is quite disappointed they are in gold, and thus inedible, but Adriaan quickly reminds him that the value of the golden ones could easily get them thousands of edible ones, thus Bassie’s spirit is quickly lifted again. As this announcement was broadcasted all over the country, the duo’s old foe also saw his rivals being named on national television, which completely enraged him, but he has bigger fish to fry at the moment, as he is completely bankrupt and his house will be sold in a matter of days. Nonetheless, he asks his nephew, De Jonkheer (Fabian Jansen) to exact his revenge on the duo and get the golden trophies in the process, which would ensure the safety of his assets and grant them a little extra money on the side as well. De Jonkheer decides to call the help of his cronies Linke Leo (Fedor van Rossem) and B1001 (Peter Sterk) to help him abduct Bassie and Adriaan and claim the cream points as his own, but he seems to be forgetting that if Bassie and Adriaan are abducted, there is no one who can go and get the tribute.
Meanwhile Keet (Janouk Kelderman) and Koen (Patrick Martens) have a part-time job at the local zoo, entertaining the visitors who are trotting around watching all the beautiful animals. Nonetheless, they get distracted when they see two sinister figures sneaking around (B1001 and Linke Leo), thus they decide to see what they are up to. Sadly, they get interrupted by their supervisor and have to head back to their post, but the young duo decide to take another look when their supervisor moves out of sight. Even though little time has passed, the two criminals stole very expensive birds from the atrium and now, because the supervisor snuck up on them again, it seems they are the primary suspects themselves. Due to this they lose their jobs and drift around the city aimlessly. During their trip, they see the announcement of Bassie and Adriaan’s reward and Keet decides to pay her respect to her uncle, Bassie. Little did the duo know they would find their house unlocked, raided and without a trace of the elderly heroic duo. With the police arriving mere moments after they have entered the house, it seems they will both have to prove their innocence and find Bassie and Adriaan.
As the movie only lasts slightly longer than seventy minutes, the pace is quite rapid, but seeing this movie is aimed at children and older Bassie and Adriaan fans, things are kept quite simple, thus the quick pace is rather enjoyable. There’s enough going on at any single time, and the movie thrives off of problem solving and conflict situations, with healthy doses of slapstick comedy thrown into the mix.
For a children’s movie, the acting performance are actually top notch, and it’s fun to see that the elderly duo, who are both around the age of eighty, are still able to keep up their antics and original personalities. The newcomers, Janouk Kelderman and Patrick Martens do a superb job in ‘replacing’ the old school Bassie and Adriaan formula, albeit with a slightly more modern approach. Everyone is able to deliver the necessary dose of humor with a convincing undertone, but only our very own Nathalie Meskens falls very flat when it comes to a pleasant and/or convincing acting performance. Fabian Jansen steals the show on the wicked side of the fence, as he is actually replacing the character of the Baron, albeit in a younger form.
Sadly this DVD release doesn’t come with any decent special features, except for a music clip with small scenes from the movie, sung by ‘Keet & Koen’. It would have been fun if there was a bit more content to explore, or perhaps an interview with the original cast, to know how they felt about this new movie after all these years.
Conclusion
Keet & Koen De Speurtocht naar Bassie & Adriaan is a great family film for young and old, and will certainly make you crack a smile more than once. Even though the movie might seem as if it’s solely for children, it’s easy to say that and older audience will find more than enough scenes noteworthy and for some it might even be a very pleasant trip down memory lane. Certainly worth the watch if you’re looking to spend a cozy evening with your family, or if you’re simply a longtime fan of Bassie & Adriaan.
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