Reviews by johanlefourbe

I remember it very well, when this movie was released, I was still living in France and I was really eager to check it out. Somhow, it took me almost 20 years to watch it but it was definitely worth the wait. Indeed, I thought it was a really solid court drama and it follows my theory that prisons shouldn’t be only about punishing the inmates, instead, we should be more preoccupied by their rehabiliation. The funny thing is that this inhumane treatment in Alcatraz was regarded as a form of rehabiliation but it was actually completely the opposite. The other thing I enjoyed was to see good old Christian Slater when he was still one of the most promising actors around. Nowadays, pretty much like Val Kilmer, there is not much left from those good promises. Still, there were a couple of things that prevented this movie from becoming truly remarkable. First of all, even though they tell you as usual that it was based on a true story, the whole thing is actually fairly innacurate but the thing that really bothered me was how the storyline was built up. Indeed, ’12 angry men’ is by far the best movie in this genre because they slowly make you understand what’s going on. Here, right from the start, they show you all the dirty details about what’s going on in Alcatraz, about the fact that Henry Young was eventually a victime so there is not much room to think and the only thing left for the viewer is waiting that all the characters involved share your feelings when we should organically make up our mind on our own. Still, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was a good court drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but, for some reason, I thought I might as well check it out again. I think it was because I missed the first 2 minutes the first time around. Anyway, I have to admit that I ended up enjoying it slightly more. Maybe it's because I watched way too many lame action flicks recently but this one, at least, had a nice cast involved (Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, Diego Luna, J.K. Simmons, Ben Foster, Caleb Landry Jones, Lukas Haas) and it was rather well made. Eventually, what bother me above all the first time was the writing but, fortunately, it actually worked better during this rewatch. I mean, it was still a pedestrian intro about an ace criminal guy who is retired with a wife and kids but has to come back for one last job but the gimmick did work, even it would probably be more fun if they gave us a guy who loves the adrenaline kick andwho is totally reckless. The only thing that still didn't work though was the timeline which was just way too tight. I mean, if you try to write down the schedule of all the events taking place in Panama, I’m pretty sure it won’t make sense and certainly it won’t add up considering the short amount of time they had. Still, it was fairly watchable and the whole concept of a master smuggler was just brilliant but there is no doubt that the damned was not really amazing though. Another thing that did bother me at first but not anymore was the numerous bad guys involved. Indeed, there were at least 4 of them which might seem a bit excessive but I didn't care much about it anymore. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it wasn’t bad, it is actually a decent action flick and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre.

Back in the 90’s, I saw ‘Le Poulpe’ and I really enjoyed it so, with this in mind, I was really eager to check Guillaume Nicloux’s following directing effort. Basically, it was another neo-noir feature involving an investigation by some private detective but even though it was fairly entertaining, I thought it was not as successful as ‘Le Poulpe’. First of all, they dropped all the dry humor which was the main quality in his previous feature and what was left was a rather generic detective feature. Furthermore, even though Thierry Lhermitte (an actor I never really liked or admired) did the best he could playing a character against type, honestly, he didn’t come near the level of awesomeness portrayed by Jean-Pierre Darroussin in ‘Le Poulpe’. Basically, I think Nicloux was quite ambitious with this flick and he tried to make something more serious this time but I think it actually backfired and the end-result was slightly disappointing. On a side note, you get to see a younger Marion Cotillard many years before she became an international star which was definitely a plus. To conclude, even though it didn’t really live up to my expectations, it was still a rather entertaining flick and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

I’m not sure if Eric Rohmer (who passed away just a couple of years ago) was really well known abroad, but in France, he was always considered a major director. To be honest, I don’t think I’m really an expert in his work but I have still managed to watch a third of all his movies. Anyway, this flick might be my favorite so far. Indeed, basically, it is a rather typical romantic tale, almost a soap opera, but the characters were very well written and actually quite fascinating to behold. It is also a rather typical French feature during which nothing much actually takes place and the whole thing is about some couples talking a lot about themselves, their relationships and life in general. You either love or hate the genre but I always had a weak spot for it and this flick was one of the best I have seen. I also enjoyed a lot the understated directing style by Rhomer which gives a lot of room to the actors to give life to their characters and the absence of additional background music was a nice touch as you have to make up your mind on your own about what you should feel or think. To conclude, I thought it was  a really a good flick and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies. 

I know, it sounds rather blasphemous but, in my opinion, this flick is actually the best installment involving Axel Foley. I'm probably in the minority on this one but, personally, I think it is the best movie in this franchise. Indeed, I think it is better than the first movie which I found actually rather disappointing. I mean, the first installment was a decent feature and they definitely created a nice concept which was perfect for Eddie Murphy’s type of humor. Still, I thought that the flow and pacing were not really great and I was always rather surprised this movie received so much love. Eventually, in my opinion, the sequel offered a better mix of action and humor and it went much more smoothly than the first installment. One of the main critic is that it was rather violent but, in my opinion,  it was actually one of its best assets and it provided a nice contrast between the humor provided by Eddie Murphy and the darker violent moments. To conclude, obviously, it is still not a masterpiece whatsoever but, in spite of its poor reputation, I thought it was a really entertaining flick and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Tony Scott’s work.

There was a time when John Carpenter was rolling one classic after another and, with this in mind, I was really eager to check this flick. Honestly, I was expecting a lot from this flick as it looked really awesome and even apparently, Kurt Russell himself has stated that this is his favorite of all his films and Snake Plissken is his favorite of his characters. Eventually, I thought it was indeed pretty entertaining with a nice vibe and, indeed, Kurt Russell was really bad-ass. Furthermore, even though the budget ($7 million) was the largest that John Carpenter had received so far, it still had a B feature quality like most of his work and maybe that’s why I didn’t really love it. I mean, I thought it was pretty cool and fairly entertaining but, somehow, the story was not really amazing in my opinion and it could have been better. Still, to conclude, even though I don’t think it is really a masterpiece (a year later, John Carpenter and Kurt Russell would release together the superior ‘The Thing’), it still remain a fun feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in John Carpenter’s work.

Almost every year now, you have one small feature opening at Sundance which gets a massive push from critics and becomes a hit, at least critically. Well, this movie was a typical example and therefore, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, even though I really liked it, I can’t say I really loved it though. Basically, it is a rather dark and gloomy picture, with some really nice directing and rather flawless acting but I didn’t like their approach of showing a harsh reality while telling you at the same time ‘Don’t worry, this isn't actually reality, it is in fact some magic realism so you shouldn’t worry about the terrible fate of these characters’. I also didn’t like much the way they introduced the father who was displayed at first as a careless drunk douchebag but, by the end, it might be in fact the best father in the world after all. That was some rather cheap manipulation. Still, there was definitely something quite mesmerizing about the damned thing. Indeed, even though they obviously didn’t have much money, they created a detailled and organic world and most of the shots were very well done and beautiful to look at. And, of course, the very young Quvenzhané Wallis gave an impressive performance, she was only 5 years old when was cast and became, at 9 years old, the youngest person ever nominated for a Best Actress Oscar and will probably remain so for a long time. To conclude, even though it didn’t really connect with the whole thing, it remains a really intriguing feature and it is definitely worth a look.

While the Spider-Man franchise is getting more and more disappointing after each installment, here we have a super-hero franchise which has been incredibly rejuvenated and it’s getting better each time around. Indeed, I thought that ‘X-Men: First Class’ was pretty good, better than the original trilogy but I still thought it was rather overrated. This time, they gave us a stronger story, the best story so far involving those mutants and I was above all fascinated by how conflicted their relationships were . Of course, the actions scenes were pretty impressive, especially those sentinels (I mean, the ones from the future) looked really awesome. Still, somehow, I wasn't entirely convinced. I mean, it was really close to be really amazing but they were not there yet, in my opinion. The first thing that bothered me was the fact that I didn’t see any reason with Kitty Pride had to keep control of Logan. I mean, at some point, they all got the message in the past, they have to change history otherwise most of them will die so why does the future Logan has to stick around? They could just leave them fix the whole thing and move somewhere else before the sentinels come. Furthermore, even though the whole time travel concept was interesting, it was still just a gimmick to have Hugh Jackman, the most bankable X-Men actor, to be with the younger cast of ‘X-Men: First Class’ in order to boost the box-office revenue. Furthermore, they pulled the same trick as in ‘Star Trek’ with this time travel storyline which basically obliterates everything that happened in the first trilogy. Honestly, as a viewer, the result is that I felt tricked since all the emotions I invested in the previous movies became rather meaningless. Still, even though it was not a home run yet, like I said before, these guys are improving the formula each time around (thank God, Bryan Singer finally got a hit after all his flops) and it is definitely worth a look.

Actually, I already saw this one a couple of months ago with my daughter in Dutch and, to be honest, I wasn't really impressed but I wanted to give it a second shot, this time, in English. To my surprise, I really enjoyed it, even more than 'The Muppet Christmas' which was so far my favorite installment starring those funny characters. Basically, they followed the same template, they took a famous tale and added the Muppets in the mix. Once again, the production value was quite impressive and the whole thing looked pretty cool. Instead of Michael Caine, for the main character, they gave us a rather boring young boy but it was compensated by Tim Curry who was basically born to play such daft villains. On the downside, I must say that I was a little bit disapointed that they put Gonzo and Rizzo on the sideline half way through the whole thing when they were once again some really fun sidekicks and I could have done without with the same old romance involving Kermit and Piggy. Still, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I had a good times watching this, they gave some very good jokes, even the song were bareable and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. Basically, this flick will be forever remembered as the film during which Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie fell in love (Since then, they got married and already divorced). The main issue with this scandalous romance (Brad Pitt was still pretty much married to Jennifer Anniston at the time) is that it had nothing to do with the movie itself and therefore, it was rather distracting. It’s too bad because the concept was actually pretty neat and, with those two huge stars, it could have been really entertaining. Eventually, it was a decent flick with some charisma provided by the two stars but, eventually, the material was actually rather  weak and the bombastic action scenes didn’t help either. Indeed, it could have been much more interesting if they had chosen something darker then such a light action-comedy. Anyway, it was still a box-office hit, the biggest one at that point for both Jolie and Pitt. To conclude, even though it felt like a missed opportunity, it was still watchable and it is worth a look, if only to see one of the biggest Hollywood power couples sharing the same screen.