Netflix AKA review: Budding action star Alban Lenoir excels again

Over the past few years, action fans have been binge-watching solid French shows on Netflix. Athena One of the best movies of 2022, by Julien Leclerc sentinel Olga Kurylenko’s thriller, Ganglands (And the movie it’s based on, Blackers) is an excellent crime fare, lost bullet And the sequel beats the franchise by a blaze of speed when it comes to explosive vehicular action.

The latest entry in this burgeoning scene is alias, a new Netflix pickup starring Alban Lenoir as Adam Franco. A highly skilled special operations agent facing one of the most dangerous missions ever. Franco ends up infiltrating the security team of a notorious crime lord (notorious football legend Eric Cantona, tough guy who was once suspended from the sport). to kick the fan). Franco makes a big impression after knocking a guard’s head unconscious shortly after an altercation, and he becomes a bodyguard for the crime lord’s bullied son, teaching the kid how to fight and defend himself.

it’s pretty “Man on Fire lite” — another film supposedly inspired by Philip Nicholson’s 1980 novel man on fire. alias Like Élie Chouraqui’s 1987 French film adaptation or Tony Scott’s stylized 2004 thriller, it is not an official adaptation of a book. But it does have a lot in common with them.It’s a dark crime story about a gray-haired operative bonding with a child and the lengths the operative goes to when the child is in danger.Scott lacks the directorial talent of alias Alban Lenoir: Something that some other movies have.

Lenoir started his career as a stunt performer, working in various French productions and Pierre Morel’s 2008 game changer. photographAfter a string of small parts, he got his big break in 2015’s French bloodwas screened at TIFF, and Renoir was nominated for the Lumiere Award for Most Promising New Actor.

A few years later, lost bullet, a heavily contained vehicular thriller in which Lenore plays Reno. To prove his innocence, he must find the last remaining piece of evidence from the crime – one lost bullet.

Photo: Julian Goldstein/Netflix

lost bullet and lost bullet 2 One of the best action movies of the decade, using a simple narrative to build elaborate and dynamic setpieces. The fisticuffs are brutal and the car chases are exciting (sometimes literally), a turbocharged action series reminiscent of the early Fast and Furious films.

But Lenore is the secret sauce to these film recipes. doing Lenore moves like an athlete, hits like a truck, and imbues them with the energy of Everyman while playing a highly capable character skilled in violence. is often exhausted by the harsh battles involved in aliasthere’s a funny scene where Adam just wants to take a nap, but is kept interrupted by notifications and instructions from his handler (who communicates through PlayStation’s voice chat, Gamer).

Photo: Nicolas Auproux/Netflix

Image: Netflix

Lenore is also a writer and author of the Lost Bullet films and alias. alias We see you reunited with director and co-writer Morgan S. Dalibert, the cinematographer of the Lost Bullet movie. (The two had previously worked together in 2005. new world, Dalibert’s directorial debut. Some of the action scenes stand out. alias, especially a complicated brawl at a drug house and a fight outside a club shown on CCTV. Dalibert also repeatedly frames the action behind long, narrow shots to add depth to some sequences. He takes pleasure in telegraphing objects used in battle. It unfolds brutally.

alias‘s overarching narrative never really gels – there are huge conspiracy theories floating around the edges of the film that aren’t really given enough time to focus. The pacing of the film also slows down, pausing to give some characters more concrete backstories, which is a shame as the actors had already filled many of these gaps through their performances. , Lenore’s unique presence helps propel the film to solid streaming prices.

alias It’s at its best when it introduces action star Alban Lenoir, not his unique status of not being stylish man on fireStill worth a look if you’re into the new wave of French action cinema and one of the most intriguing stars. But if you haven’t seen the Lost Bullet movies yet, prioritize the excellent Lenore action.

alias Currently streaming on Netflix.