What’s that about?! Cult sequel to Netflix just leaves the main character of the original dead!

Anyone who lived in Germany around the turn of the millennium and went through puberty has most likely seen “Harte Jungs”. Also billed as Germany’s answer to “American Pie”, the comedy centers on Florian (Tobias Schenke), who wakes up one morning and is shocked to discover that his penis is talking to him. Together with his best friend Rudolf aka Red Bull (Axel Stein) they are now working towards the most important goal in a teenager’s life: the first time!

The film adaptation of Alberto Moravia’s novel “Me and He” was able to become a real hit in Germany, although the reviews were almost universally weak. A sequel, “Knallharte Jungs”, was released two years later, again starring Tobias Schenke and Axel Stein. In terms of vulgar humor, three creators were added, which ultimately led to even worse reviews than the first part. For many, “Knallharte Jungs” is even considered one of the worst comedies ever.

Nevertheless, the series enjoys a certain cult following in Germany, which Netflix has now seized on to push a new offshoot of the franchise with “Hammerharte Jungs”, which no one actually asked for. Not only Axel Stein is back, but also Diana Amp, who as Maja Paradis represented the object of desire for Florian in “Knallharte Jungs”. Rudolf and Maja are now parents. But where is Florian?

Netflix just lets Florian die!

“Hammerharte Jungs” is all about Charly (Tobias Schäfer), Rudolf’s son, and Paula (Cosima Henman), Maja’s daughter. The inseparable friendship between the two is soon put to the test when not only Charly’s penis starts talking, but also Paula’s vagina starts talking about intercourse all the time. The fact that Charly and Paula secretly have feelings for each other makes things even more complicated.

Well, so Axel Stein and Diana Amft made it “Hammerharte Jungs”. As a fan (or confidant) of the two predecessors, you inevitably wonder what has become of Florian? And the movie gives a pretty sobering answer to that. Right at the beginning, Maja explains to her youngest daughter that her father would be very proud if he were still alive and that Paula would look a lot like her father. It is not confirmed if this is actually Florian, but at the end of “Knallharte Jungs”, Maja and Flo discovered that they had discovered the love of life in each other.

But why should Florian be allowed to die? Again, this can only be guessed at: Tobias Schenke may not have had time to reprise his most famous role. Such a refusal does not necessarily have to be due to professional stress, because Schenke is actually not that busy anymore. There may also have been private reasons. But maybe he just didn’t feel like immersing himself in the world of talking genitals for a third time.

In any case, after “Hammerharte Jungs” you have to assume that Flo is dead. The signs are pretty clear. This is always a popular explanation for writing familiar characters from a series, but fans of the two original installments are likely to be disappointed by this, especially as the chance of a possible later comeback has been blocked if the franchise were to one day produce the installment.

Is “Hammerharte Jungs” any good?

Since “Harte Jungs” and “Knallharte Jungs” were certainly not masterpieces, but showed their very own, completely clumsy charm, there are certainly still people who watch the films – also for nostalgic reasons – now and then. Qualitatively, “Hammerharte Jungs” is in no way inferior to its two predecessors, it even manages to get the chemistry between Tobias Schäfer and Cosima Henman right. That was it.

Netflix’s efforts to tell “Hammerharte Jungs” as contemporary as possible also means that the teen comedy comes across as pretty cramped and pseudo-awake at times. This is especially funny because Granz Henman has taken over the director’s post again – and as is well known, with “Knallharte Jungs” he has performed an uninhibited, sexist tour de force that has washed ashore. Nevertheless: “Hammerharte Jungs” didn’t really get bad, just too adapted.