For lovers of strong action, the gift came from an unexpected place: French filmmakers produced a very good action movie this year. On their own, without the help of the United States or other countries, for which they can only be praised. They made a good, serious, interesting film with a strong story, understandable characters and a cool action component. There is none of that pretentiousness, caricature, stupid flat humor inherent in every second Hollywood (and not only) project, which has long been boring. In terms of cinema, I personally associate France with old comedies with Louis de Funes и Pierre Richard, and romantic films about love. But they rarely give out action.
Plot "Lost Bullet" is about two brothers who decide to commit a burglary. Bold, rude and simple. But they fail and the older brother tells the younger brother to run away, while he remains behind and surrenders to the police arriving at the scene. Then, of course, he is put in prison and after a short time one tough police officer invites him to assist in apprehending criminals, using his skills and special skills as a mechanic. This connection. The first twenty minutes of the film may not interest everyone, but to complete the overall picture, you need to know this backstory. I, too, watched these very minutes with cold detachment and thought that most of the film, if not the whole, could go in this vein. One episode that happened in the twenty-second minute of the tape changed everything. That same tough policeman treacherously receives a bullet in the back from his own comrades. It happened very abruptly and suddenly, which, despite what I think I had already seen in the movies, I did not expect to see. This is an important event, one might even say a turning point, because from this moment the most interesting things begin for both the viewer and the characters in the film. A game of cat and mouse is gaining momentum, in which the main character hides and runs away, simultaneously trying to achieve justice.
The film is not full of action, but what there is is staged and shot very, very well. The highlight here is the fight at the police station. The main character (played by Alban Lenoir) tries to escape, and ends up in an unequal battle with several representatives of the law at once. If you accept the fact that the entire police force in the building (and that’s about ten people, give or take) cannot cope with one guy, which in itself is not very believable, then you can enjoy watching this episode. It happened that four people attacked the hero from all sides and could not pacify him, although a couple of times they almost succeeded. Then, in addition to his physical strength, audacity and determination, incredible luck came to the rescue. It seemed that only by miracle did he manage to free himself from the tenacious hands of the servants of the law. In general, fortune showed its favor towards the main character throughout the film. Otherwise it can not be. In any action movie, the hero is always a little (and sometimes not a little) lucky. Luck for a character in any work plays a very significant role in his life, the tasks he performs, and the adventures he experiences. And he emerges victorious, also not without a bit of luck. This is fine.
So, the scene at the police station was done well. The wrestling has a down-to-earth nature and is just that: wrestling: there are no kicks, any fighting stances, etc. It turns out that if the actors don’t know how to fight, then you can still make the wrestling look cool. The main thing is that it’s interesting to stage and film intelligently. And it was shot well too. No clip cutting, “Bourne” shaking. The takes are not long, but average, almost everything is shot in a long shot, so everything is visible and understandable, the lighting is fine. It's a real treat to the eye. The entire escape scene takes 3 minutes, but it is so intense that it seems that it lasts more than 5-7 minutes. And there is no boring cliché, like the idea that one fights with the hero, and the rest stand and watch. All the police who are nearby and if they are still combat-ready are involved in the fight.
Next, we can note a short shootout that turns into a fight between Lino (that’s the name of the main character) and one of the villains. Moreover, here the protagonist loses his brother and this again happened unexpectedly. It seems to be an ordinary, simple action movie, but the creators manage to make some plot twists in such a way that you don’t expect them. The action in this episode is staged and filmed just as well; there’s nothing to complain about, and I don’t want to. There is no great tangible tension in fights (as, for example, in the famous "Raids" or "Merantau", where there is more than enough tension in battles), which is so lacking in many modern fighting games. But watching them in this film is no less interesting. The film may have lacked the appropriate musical accompaniment for this. In some places it is present, but too unnoticeable.
And of course, what is so lacking in any modern action movie is a spectacular car chase. Not every "bashka" can afford this, because it affects the budget, which for this category of films is not at all large. Modern blockbusters in this regard focus on graphonia, damn it. The French film boasts a well-executed chase sequence towards the end. Here they are not shy about smashing several cars into trash, and the filming was on location and the cars were real, for which we thank them very much. In the era of CGI, we're seeing less and less live-action action. And even if it is drawn well, the subconscious feels that something is wrong and the feeling and overall impression deteriorates.
Alban Lenoir, may not have the charisma and brutality of the conventional Stallone, but he is by no means a pretty face. He is simple and understandable to the viewer, an ordinary guy, an auto mechanic, without pathos or infantilism. I had never seen the actor anywhere before, but he coped with the role for the most part. Although, perhaps, in a couple of moments it didn’t push it enough in terms of drama, even if this is not critical. Ramzi Bedia played a tough policeman, and, although his role was short, I remembered him. I even thought that he would live to see the final. Nicolas Duvauchel He also looks good as the main villain, but he doesn’t inspire much danger or fear, which is why some may seem like a weak antagonist. As for me, he turned out to be a hero: he doesn’t stand out outwardly, he behaves appropriately, he doesn’t make pretentious speeches, he doesn’t joke stupidly.
"Lost Bullet" Guillaume Pierret is a good representative of the European action film. I’m very glad that among the mountains of passing and greyness, I managed to find something that was worth my attention and time. I can definitely recommend it to fans of the genre; you should check it out at least once. Still, no, no, and sometimes they appear on Netflix worthy examples of full-length films.
Sergey Volkolak
Especially for Fight-Films.info
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Tags: Lost Bullet, Netflix, Alban Lenoir, Guillaume Pierret, Nicolas Duvauchel, Ramzi Bedia
Tags: Lost Bullet, Netflix, Alban Lenoir, Guillaume Pierret, Nicolas Duvauchel, Ramzi Bedia
Well, if these plot twists were unexpected, then it probably wasn’t worth spoiling.
Sorry, maybe it just worked for me. For others, perhaps this will not come as a surprise.