Reviews by johanlefourbe

This flick is a perfect example that, even if you have a rather preposterous story, you still can manage to make an entertaining and compelling movie. Indeed, the whole thing was about a average guy who decides to help escape his wrongfully accused wife. I don't know about you but when I heard this plotline, I wasn’t really impressed and I was expecting one of these dumb action flicks I have seen so many times in the past. However, it turned out to be a rather gripping thriller. I mean, of course, the story was still really far-fetched (especially when the main character went to steal money from some drug dealer and ended up in a shoot-out, that was far from believable) but the directing was really effective and Vincent Lindon gave a really solid performance and it was above all thanks to him that I really get into the story. Diane Kruger wasn't bad either but she honestly didn't have much to do during the whole thing. Eventually, I was wondering during the whole duration how this guy was going to pull it off and thanks to Lindon's down-to-earth approach, it was quite entertaining. Only 2 years later,  they would come up with an American version starring Russell Crowe which was not bad but this original version was really better. Anyway, to conclude, it was a pretty decent thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

Since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. Furthermore, since it was dealing with an alien invasion,  Nick, my step-son, was even more enthusiast than I was so we basically had to watch it as soon as possible. Eventually, it was really similar to  'Shaun of the Dead' except that ‘Shaun…’ was  an action horror comedy and this movie was combining a hood flick with an alien invasion. Anyway, the only thing they maybe were missing here was some star power. I mean, 'Shaun of the dead' was pretty awesome above all thanks to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (who actually had a small part here as well but he was barely used). I have to admit it, the young boys involved were all pretty good and they did deliver some decent performances but, to be honest, they didn't have such a charisma. Still, I really enjoyed the damned thing. Indeed, it was very well made, clever with some funny dialogues with some awesome British humor. Of course, the whole Alien invasion had been done to death by now and they didn't actually add much to the formula and they instead followed the rules of the genre but it worked pretty well. To conclude, even if it was nothing really mind-blowing after all, I really had a good time watching this movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Apartheid was one of the darkests part of our world's history and it seems rather unbelievable and heatbreaking that it was still going strong in the 80's which was not really a long time ago. So, since this subject was quite interesting and since I have a weak spot for Philip Noyce, I was really eager to watch this flick. Eventually, even though it was rather well made with some strong performances by Derek Luke and Tim Robbins, the whole thing still turned out to be rather underwhelming. Im fact, it reminded me of another movie dealing with the same subject called 'Goodbye Bafana' and both movies could have been truelly awesome and inspiring but neither of them really impressed me after all. At the end of the movie, they did show the real Patrick Chamusso and those 2 minutes turned out to be actually the best part of the whole movie. Obviously, this guy had been through a lot in his life and he deserved a better movie than this one. I mean, it wasn't bad at all but it was rather short (90 mins) and you wonder why they decided to spend so much time on his extra marital activities. Furthermore, the fact that Nic Vos actually didn't exist but was an amalgamation of different people wasn't a smart move either in my opinion. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still a well made drama, with some decent acting and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject.

Was it a prequel? A sequel? An hommage? A tribute? A reboot? Personally, I would say that it was a reboot to 'Alien' but who cares? The damned thing was visually impressive with some awesome directing by Ridley Scott and a very strong cast. Personally, I couldn't choose between Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron who gave the best performance, they were all very good. However, even if the story was definitely entertaining, it was still nothing ground-breaking like I was hoping for. Indeed, I always have some high expections from the movies directed by Ridley Scott but, even though they are all well made and a feast for the eye, the plot is usually kind of weak and this movie was not an exception. First of all, it was way too similar to 'Alien'. Secondly, Scott tried to go all metaphysical but he didn't quite pull it off. I mean, he is a fine director but he never gets to the depth reached by some directors such as Stanley Kubrick or Terrence Malick. Finally, even though the first half was tight and gripping, the second half was honestly pretty messy with some major plot holes (why does David infects Charlie?!? Even worse Shaw manages to get rid off of the embryo at some point during an awesome sequence but, after that, she gets back in the team as if nothing happened before...). To conclude, I did like this movie but it was a typical Scott feature (some awesome craftmanship displayed but, at the end of the day, nothing really challenging) still, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

PS: Eventually, I re-watched this movie a few years later and, to be honest, the end-result was even more disappointing the 2^nd time around.

PSS : Five years later, Ridley Scott would come up with another sequel called ‘Alien: Covenant’ which was even more underwhelming  and, even worse, all the new ideas introduced in this movie were basically pretty much thrown out of the window which was just so lame in my opinion.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I kept hearing some interesting things about the damned thing, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, it turned out to be a seriously weird movie.. In fact, it had been a while since I saw such a bizarre flick. Visually, it was pretty amazing and it reminded me of the work of Terry Gilliam, Guillermo del Toro and 'The Fall' by Tarsem Singh. Basically, they gave us some wall-to-wall CGI with some impressive sets, strange costumes and excentric characters. Still, even though it was visually one of the most fascinating movies I have seen lately, the plot was actually nothing really mind-blowing, when you think about it. In fact, it was something I have experienced with many movies directed by Gilliam. Indeed, Gilliam’s movies are visually appealing but also sometimes, rather alienating. I had the same feeling here and, honestly, the story was decent but not much more. So, I did like the damned thing but it is a matter of taste as Roger Ebert admired its artistry but thought that the plot was really underwhelming. He also mentionned that the whole thing was rather foggy (he had a point, during the whole thing, I even thought that there was something wrong with my TV-set...). Anyway, in spite of its flaws, this movie was visually fascinating and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to watch something else than your typical Hollywood flick.