.....as an English critic aptly wrote .Based on Enyd Blyton's "Five fall into adventure ",the script has almost nothing from the book : it was the first time the Five had met Jo ,and it's the only element taken from the original story ;however ,the screenwriters turned ragamuffin gypsy Jo into Thai girl ,eager to save her village ,threatened by a greedy tycoon (the real treasure ,so to speak,is not the pirates ' treasure the five (six!) are searching)who wants to raise it to the ground to satisfy his dirty deeds.The ecological concern ,which was present in the first installment (in which George's dad had a collaborator too),comes back to the fore ;Germans have always been concerned by the environment ,more than many other people in Europa.It shows.Our four heroes have grown up and it shows too (only Timmy is still the same good dog);they look more like adolescents than children now ,a problem Blyton had not when she wrote her novels (still in the best-sellers top 10 in the Naughties in UK).The movie was lambasted by many critics ,particularly in France and they were wrong;this one is ,IMHO,much better than volume 2 which was too tongue in chick (and even vulgar) to satisfy those who read Blyton in their prime .The shady couple serves as a comic relief ,only the man actually,for his wife is a true villain,deadlier than the male .Admittedly ,the trick of the compass is far-fetched ,but not more than the melody that led to the green eye in the precedent episode .For the first time ,it features really dramatic elements: stung by a venomous insect, Julian is going to die :only a plant (red berries) could save him .Rin Tin Tin's (sorry Timmy's ) role has been fleshed out and only his courage saves the sick boy and the village .A little listless in its first part ,the film hits its stride halfway through and then it becomes an action-packed story.Too often ,Jo steals the show from the Five but Timmy ,maybe much to George's displeasure ,but it does not spoil the audience's pleasure.

Now this is certainly a very prolific franchise. This is already the third entry to Enid Blyton's "Fünf Freunde" series since 2012, one per year. This time, it looks like the bunch is going to have calm holidays with their parents somewhere near the sea with chilling at the beach being the most exciting thing to happen. Boy were they wrong. They end up being on the search for a great treasure and of course they are followed by villains (sort of Pinky and Brain, an almost too evil woman and a clumsy fellow played by German comedian Michael Kessler, both of which being paralyzed brought some nice comic relief) and we also get to see exotic animals like wired monkeys, parrots with digestive problems or poisonous bugs and many more. And lets not forget about the super-cute dog who has to save the day again for the kids. Finally, the true villain shows up and, not very much surprisingly, it is Sky du Mont playing a similar evil mastermind character like in his probably most known role for "Der Schuh des Manitu".This is another decent kids movie from Germany and there are quite a few these days. I would also recommend this film to grown-ups. It never gets boring and the best thing is that there is still no decrease in quality compared to the previous two movies. These kids films are never what I would consider best movies of the year, but they always offer some nice distraction and often you even find some heart in them to boost your inner child. I would recommend watching it, but it is probably unlike that you consider giving it a watch without having seen any of the two previous films. Basically this one is really not too different from them and that is not supposed to be a criticism. If you enjoyed part 1 and 2, you will also like part 3 I'm sure. I thought the beginning here was so-so, but it got better pretty quickly.I just checked and saw that there will also be another film (with Egypt as the setting) coming in January 2015 already and they're certainly doing well in rushing these before the kids become too old for their characters. I also would be surprised if they don't do a 5th film afterward. Pretty much a must-have for a franchise named Five Friends. As usual, there will probably be another kid character playing a central role and, during their adventure, becoming friends with the bunch after initial resentments, like in the third part the girl who belongs to the tribe living on the island. However, I have to say the girl here, looked completely different from an ethnological standpoint compared to the other members of the tribe. Apart from that I did not like the scientific subplot involving the kids' parents too much and that du Mont's character suddenly turned from a methodically working mastermind into a complete fool. That happens in kids movies though I guess. Anyway, just a minor criticism. "Fünf Freunde 3" is certainly worth a watch.