Diabolik – Ginko Attacks! [Diabolik – Ginko all’attacco!] **½ (2022, Giacomo Gianniotti, Miriam Leone, Valerio Mastandrea, Monica Bellucci) – Classic Movie Review 12,582

The second film in the Diabolik trilogy directed by Manetti Bros, Diabolik – Ginko Attacks! [Diabolik – Ginko all’attacco!], was released on November 17, 2022, starring Giacomo Gianniotti instead of Luca Marinelli, who plays Diabolik in the 2021 movie Diabolik, along with Miriam Leone as his accomplice Eva Kant and Valerio Mastandrea as Ispettore Ginko from the first film.

It is freely based on Angela and Luciana Giussani’s 16th Diabolik story Ginko All’Attacio. Diabolik steals the Crown of Armen and the Armen Jewels, but it is a trap as they have been coated with a radioactive tracking substance so that Ginko and his police force can find and infiltrate one of Diabolik’s main hideouts.

This time, the focus is almost entirely on Ginko, as promised by the Ginko Attacks! title, with Valerio Mastandrea given plenty of screen time to develop the character from a mere cypher, and to have a love story too, with none other than Monica Bellucci as the Duchess Altea di Vallemberg, Ginko’s secret companion, who is fed up because he’s too busy trying to catch Diabolik to pay her enough attention. Well, what with bossy bosses too, and Diabolik’s ability to put on rubber masks and impersonate other characters, a policeman’s lot is not a happy one.

The second film is slick, fun and entertaining neo-retro entertainment, though slightly less good, and less enjoyable than the first film. It is quite tense and atmospheric, and fairly stylish, with a James Bond-style vibe. Miriam Leone, who was so impressive then as Eva Kant has much less to do this time, and little screen time with Diabolik, and is accordingly much less effective. It’s not her fault, it’s the script’s, and that’s bad payback for good behaviour. The new Diabolik, Giacomo Gianniotti, has virtually no screen time at all, mistakenly sidelining the main character, who is in disguise and therefore absent for most of the film. Gianniotti looks the part, but no acting is required, so it’s never clear whether he fills Luca Marinelli’s shoes. And the Monica Bellucci stuff is simply a wrong turn.

The story itself is only so-so – it’s just dogged police inspector nearly capturing the Arsène Lupin-style thief all the time in between Maigret-style pipe smoking – and most of the expected aspects of robbery, burglary, thieving and heists so much looked forward to are notably missing, unfortunately. So not enough action, then, a near-fatal flaw! But the film still works as a fairly exciting comic-book movie, with score and visuals propelling it along entertainingly.

A third movie titled Diabolik: chi sei? is set to be released in 2023.

Marco Manetti (born 15 January 1968) and Antonio Manetti (born 16 September 1970), collectively referred to as Manetti Bros, are Italian film-makers, famed for their video clips, TV series and musical comedies.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,582

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