Die Chaosschwestern und Pinguin Paul (3½ Stars)

It's Saturday, it's children's film time with Oliver again. I prefer to take him to the cinema on Sunday, but there's a rail strike this week and the buses don't run very often on Sunday.

The film's title means "The Chaos Sisters and Paul the Penguin". There's a series of books, ten so far, about the four girls Tessa (15), Livi (13), Malea (11) and Kenny (7). It's not stated where they live, but the clues in the film suggest it's somewhere in the north of Germany.

One day a penguin wanders into their house. They've already seen him on television. His name is Paul, and he's gained fame as a dancing penguin who lives in the local zoo. He was stolen from the zoo by two magicians, Marc and Mary, who want to use him in their show. They might be good magicians, but they're inept thieves. They lock Paul in a small cage, but he breaks out and runs away.

The girls see it as their duty to return Paul to the zoo, but they hand him over to the same crooked employee who sold Paul to the magicians in the first place. The girls pursue the magicians to rescue Paul again.

It's a pleasant little girly film. It's supposed to be a comedy, but it's not very funny. Oliver didn't laugh, and neither did I. The oldest sister, Tessa, acts as the film's narrator and frequently breaks the fourth wall by addressing the camera. I made an effort to like the film, but it didn't really speak to me.