"Banana Joe" is an Italian movie (mostly) in the Italian language as well and this one was released back in 1982, so it is almost 40 years old now and on the picture here on imdb you can already see that this is another Bud Spencer movie. He was really famous back then here in Germany (not in the United States) and is still known by many now in 2020. However, the picture is also a bit misleading because the boy he carries there is not a vital part of the story at all the way Spencer sometimes has young characters as co-leads in his films, especially the one with the alien. It is all about Spencer/Joe in here. Nobody else. Anyway, the fact that Spencer was huge (not just physically) back then in West Germany is als proven by this being a West German co-production and one of the five(!) writers of this slightly over 1.5 hours being German Gunther-Philipp. Well, Austrian. Or Hungarian. Or Romanian. Not entirely clear, but his name seems to indicate that German was his native language. Another writer is Steno, the director of this film and he has worked with Spencer on so many occasions, also at the very end of his life (Steno's life). I hope now that they are both gone forever, they are still somewhere out there united again. Okay, let's not get melancholic now. I shall try my best. Not too easy with Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Over the Rainbow" running in the background. Well, now I am really drifting away here. I just wanted to add that, as for the basics, Spencer was also one of the writers and this was his first writing credit ever and the only one in fact before the "Big Man" series. Now I already mentioned his size twice, so let me make a specific reference to a quote from this film here. Joe is asked on one occasion if everybody in his village is as big as he is. And his response is that this is not the case, but the other males are all rather puny. That was one of the funniest moments for me from the entire movie, also Spencer's face expression when he says so. He sure has a way to entertain by expressing slightly mean things in a charmingly funny manny that you can't really be mad at him. He says this to a female character and yes, he does indeed have a love interest here. She even comes to visit him when he is in danger of going to jail. This is definitely a bit unusual for a Spencer movie, normally he is a lone wolf and there are generally almost no female characters in his films. The one here is a night club singer (played by German actress Marina Langner) and her inclusion was nothing I enjoyed that much, but Spencer made the most of it looking at how shy he is when around a woman he likes compared to his gruff brute self when he is up against other (usually evil) men. So this quote I liked and his behavior and also the extended scene how he makes sure nobody touches the woman (just like he was told to). Things do get really hilarious when very influential men, politicians etc. start touching her and he pushes them all out of the club. Or even the guy who told him to protect her. That was hilarious. An order is an order you could say. Joe is definitely a man of principles. This is also why the girl likes him I suppose.
But there is not just positive. I enjoyed the above I just mentioned, but there are also some lengths. Early on and at the end at the banana village, the film was at its best, but in-between (like I said in the title of my review) it is not always spot-on. For example the scene in which he tried to get these documents to be allowed to keep selling bananas was a bit too long for my taste. And while Pedersoli (Spencer's real name) did his best to make it work, it felt more like something from those Italian cinema movies from two decades older, the ones in black-and-white, usually comedies, or even an older French comedy, but with Spencer it was not working entirely. Other people may see this differently of course. It is just my subjective perception. There is no denying that the good quality here is still far more frequent than the bad, but I am not sure if I gave this film a thumbs-up with another lead than Spencer. Perhaps not. He is just a force of nature with his recognition value. Americans don't know how much they are missing out. At best, they may know Terence Hill, who is not in this film though. Solo effort for Spencer here. One thing I liked linked to the bananas is very early when Joe takes care of the guys who sell low quality bananas because he wants people to enjoy his high-quality bananas with love inside them and not the garbage bananas who only have one purpose: profit. This is actually a thought process that you will find far more frequently in people's minds nowadays in the 21st century than back then in the early 1980s. Just a minor quote/scene, but it stayed in my mind for some reason. Also I liked the title song. The music is always nice in Spencer's films, but Olimpio and Oliver Onions (the Spencer regulars) really delivered here once again. Such a catchy number! I had to put it on my MP3 player immediately. And that means something, even if there are over 1,000 other songs on it. Anyway, back to the film at hand. I think this is a movie that you can also watch and enjoy nowadays still, a really long timeafter its release and who knows, maybe it's already been 50 years depending on when you read this review. I am positive Spencer's movies won't be forgotten and I am always glad to see they are showing some again here on German television, which admittedly could be more often the case again and not just when there is a holiday. Yesterday was Whitsun and they showed like six films in one day. Despite the flaws (forgettable main villain, forgettable fights against bureaucracy), there is no hesitation for me in giving this movie a thumbs-up. Another moment I liked was the scene that had him at the army. Okay, story-wise it is really difficult to make sense with how he even got there, but the fact that he always says his name is Banana Joe and not Joe (last name) already made obvious that this film is not about making sense. Just look at how unrealistic it is with whom he ends up in the same cell. It's all about fun and the likable protagonist. Anyway, as for the army scene, I found it really funny when the commander asks him to punch him as hard as he can and what Joe says and does in response. Pretty hilarious. Go watch this film. Also a nice choice to start with if you have never seen another Spencer movie. It was not the first time I watched this one (maybe third or so), but it is still fun and does not get worse on rewatch because you kinda expect the outcome anyway. But it does not hurt the film in any way. Go for it. Easy thumbs-up, although it is not one of my most favorite Pedersoli movies. Bananas are amazing though!
But there is not just positive. I enjoyed the above I just mentioned, but there are also some lengths. Early on and at the end at the banana village, the film was at its best, but in-between (like I said in the title of my review) it is not always spot-on. For example the scene in which he tried to get these documents to be allowed to keep selling bananas was a bit too long for my taste. And while Pedersoli (Spencer's real name) did his best to make it work, it felt more like something from those Italian cinema movies from two decades older, the ones in black-and-white, usually comedies, or even an older French comedy, but with Spencer it was not working entirely. Other people may see this differently of course. It is just my subjective perception. There is no denying that the good quality here is still far more frequent than the bad, but I am not sure if I gave this film a thumbs-up with another lead than Spencer. Perhaps not. He is just a force of nature with his recognition value. Americans don't know how much they are missing out. At best, they may know Terence Hill, who is not in this film though. Solo effort for Spencer here. One thing I liked linked to the bananas is very early when Joe takes care of the guys who sell low quality bananas because he wants people to enjoy his high-quality bananas with love inside them and not the garbage bananas who only have one purpose: profit. This is actually a thought process that you will find far more frequently in people's minds nowadays in the 21st century than back then in the early 1980s. Just a minor quote/scene, but it stayed in my mind for some reason. Also I liked the title song. The music is always nice in Spencer's films, but Olimpio and Oliver Onions (the Spencer regulars) really delivered here once again. Such a catchy number! I had to put it on my MP3 player immediately. And that means something, even if there are over 1,000 other songs on it. Anyway, back to the film at hand. I think this is a movie that you can also watch and enjoy nowadays still, a really long timeafter its release and who knows, maybe it's already been 50 years depending on when you read this review. I am positive Spencer's movies won't be forgotten and I am always glad to see they are showing some again here on German television, which admittedly could be more often the case again and not just when there is a holiday. Yesterday was Whitsun and they showed like six films in one day. Despite the flaws (forgettable main villain, forgettable fights against bureaucracy), there is no hesitation for me in giving this movie a thumbs-up. Another moment I liked was the scene that had him at the army. Okay, story-wise it is really difficult to make sense with how he even got there, but the fact that he always says his name is Banana Joe and not Joe (last name) already made obvious that this film is not about making sense. Just look at how unrealistic it is with whom he ends up in the same cell. It's all about fun and the likable protagonist. Anyway, as for the army scene, I found it really funny when the commander asks him to punch him as hard as he can and what Joe says and does in response. Pretty hilarious. Go watch this film. Also a nice choice to start with if you have never seen another Spencer movie. It was not the first time I watched this one (maybe third or so), but it is still fun and does not get worse on rewatch because you kinda expect the outcome anyway. But it does not hurt the film in any way. Go for it. Easy thumbs-up, although it is not one of my most favorite Pedersoli movies. Bananas are amazing though!