Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I have it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Since I really enjoyed the first instalment about this notorious criminal, I was really eager to check the second part. To be honest, it was actually rather difficult to write a separate review since it was actually one movie in 2 parts. Anyway, once again, the directing was solid, the story was quite fascinating and Vincent Cassel really rocked this performance. I must admit that I did miss some continuity between the two movies though. Indeed, at the end of the first part, Mesrine was in Canada and had just escaped from jail but, at the beginning of the second part, he was back in France robbing some banks. What happened in between? How did he get back in France? Eventually, there was so much material that, actually, a TV-show with several seasons might have been more appropriate. It would then provide more time to develop the other characters around him and, above all, the makers could also make sure that there was a better transition between the different scenes. But those were some minor issues and it was still a gripping gritty realistic crime drama which gave a spellbinding look on the most infamous French criminal that ever lived. Above all, the escape scenes were just awesome and really fascinating to behold. To conclude, I really enjoyed the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

Not so o long ago, I actually watched [REC] but, to be honest, even though I did I enjoy it, I still thought it was nothing really mind-blowing. With this in mind, I had some rather low expectations concerning this American remake since must of them are usually just a plain waste of time. Eventually, I thought it was not bad at all and it turned out to be one of the best horror remakes I have actually seen. Indeed, it was really faithful to the original and even though I knew exactly what would happen, I was still on the edge of my seat during the whole thing. However, the fact that it was so faithful was actually also its curse. Indeed, it was basically a replicate of the Spanish version and they didn't add anything new to the whole thing. So, even though it was a decent and entertaining remake, it was still rather useless. The funny thing it was that even though this movie was a remake, most of the viewers didn't know or didn't care and it was eventually financially more successful than the Spanish original which was much better... That's how it goes in the movie business, unfortunately. Anyway, to conclude, it was still a well made remake and I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. I think I saw it when I was a kid but, while watching the damned thing, I couldn't remember it at all. Well, to be honest, it is obviously one of the weakest Disney productions. Still, it is far from being a bad movie. Indeed, the animation, though not mind-blowing, was pretty decent and the fox and the dog were really cute when they were young. It was also something very sweet to see this dog and this fox becoming best friends when, in fact, they should be enemies. Eventually, it might be Disney’s feature with the smallest scope ever but it could have been an asset if they would have developed the material properly. Unfortunately, they didn't do much with this interesting minimalistic scope and instead, like many other Disney animated features, they focused way too much on some various talking animals. Of course, it was expected from them but the end-resulting was therefore rather generic and tedious but, when you think about it, the material was actually pretty dark and it had more potential. Basically, it has always been a weakness with Disney, the fact that their movies always play it safe when they could be much more challenging and interesting. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it is a decent animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Hollywood is really getting kind of hopeless nowadays. I mean, even if you did like them or not, all the previous Spider-Man flicks were some huge blockbusters and it was rather weird to reboot the franchise only 5 years later when it was in fact doing just fine. And, indeed, it was pretty obvious that rebooting was not really a good choice. Basically, origin stories always tend to be rather weak, except maybe for 'Batman Begins' but, even in this case, the sequel turned out to be way better. Here, it was actually even worse because we already had an origin story for this character and even though they did add some new elements, both plotlines were just way too similar. Sure, they did make the main character younger, they gave him some gadgets, they changed his girlfriend's name but, all in all, it was just about the same thing. Still, as a stand-alone feature, I have to admit that it was still pretty entertaining. There were some spectacular scenes, Spider-Man remains a badass superhero and Andrew Garfield really rocked this performance. Whereas the rest of the cast was decent but vastly underused, Garfield gave a very nuanced performance and he was completely convincing, probably even better than Tobey Maguirre. To conclude, it is obvious they shouldn't have made yet another origin story, above all so similar to the previous one, but it was still a well made and enjoyable blockbuster and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I have it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. First of all, even though I never really followed his 'achievements', like any other French men, I have heard of Mesrine so I was really intrigued to check this flick. I don't know if he is really famous abroad but in France, he was the most notorious criminal that ever lived in France. Concerning the movie itself, first of all, there was a very nice cast involved and Vincent Cassel was above all a great choice to play this guy. Basically, it is rather difficult to think of a better actor for this part. Furthermore, after making a disappointing American remake ('Assault on Precinct 13'), Jean-Francois Richet was back in his homeland and he delivered his best directing effort so far. As expected, the story was really fascinating, especially when Mesrine got in jail and managed to escape in a rather simple fashion. The craziest thing was that he came back afterwards with his buddy with a few riffles to fight against the prison guards! It was completely insane but the guy did survive to tell the tale. Anyway, to conclude, it was a really well made and entertaining crime drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.