Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Tim Kidner That's how Jonathan Ross describes this French subtitled movie, when he introduced it when it was shown on the satellite French movie channel, Cinemoi.The now almost famous (to us Brits) Vincent Cassel, playing 'Brisseau' and his wife, Barbara, or Lisa, (Monica Belucci) are the couple in question and are part of ring of agents, totally professional, taking great care to meticulously plan everything. They don't ask questions. Maybe they should...Out in Angola, is a bloody civil war and that requires guns, lots of them. A Russian arms dealer, trading from Switzerland is going to send a ship-load of weapons out there. The Secret Agents are set the task of going out to Morocco and sabotaging this sailing by planting explosives on the vessel and blowing it up.So, that's the premise, interesting and realistic and to do just that would be far too straightforward, right?The movie moves along quite quickly, shot in old style, i.e. steady cameras instead of wobbly, jarring ones. But there is excitement too, with well-shot stunts, especially car chases (French thrillers always do them well) and moody mellower moments. It's humourless and efficient and we aren't asked to like, or approve of the protagonists or what they do. It gets sufficiently complex to be satisfying, it's well acted and about the right length.It's a good thriller, but somehow not a great one. It needs an extra something, though what this is difficult to pinpoint. It doesn't quite reach 7/10, for me, but is very close. Whether it's worth buying as a DVD and at the present cost, is a different matter. But rented or on Cinemoi, then it's a great choice for a mid-week action movie.

leplatypus Again a french blockbuster! I had in mind "Largo Winch" for our national action / thriller tries and the feeling that something was lacking in comparison to James Bond, "Mission Impossible" or the recent "Traitor".My opinion hasn't changed: action isn't unforgettable, the story is boring, and the characters dull: even before the troubles come, the spies are depressive, mournful! I know the director wanted to show the crude reality of undercover action but he failed to tell something interesting. Even his commentary is lethargic. It's a pity because some sequences show that he is talented with a camera! The best moment of the movie is their "vacations" in Casablanca, because it was almost like mine in Oujda, another Moroccan town: streets filled with people, red and whites taxis, pool, … And another french DVD without subtitles!

Roger Burke It's not often that you come across a film in which, for the first eleven minutes, the only words spoken are: 'On the left!' Couple that with an opening sequence that begins on the dark side of the moon, slowly zooming down to earth – almost like a Google Earth video -- and to a ferry, somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, to finally stop upon a man's eyes at extreme close-up. And, all done with only two almost seamless dissolves between the computer wizardry and the real McCoy... And all the time, the pulsating sound track from Bruno Coulais hits you almost as forcibly as three assassins forcibly and gruesomely dispatch the hapless agent returning to base...Such is the combination of cinematic and directorial skills as evidenced by the director, Frederic Schoendoerffer and cinematography by Jean-Pierre Sauvaire. Add to that the consummate acting by the likes of Vincent Cassel -- unforgettable in La Haine (1992) – and Monica Belluci, probably best known to US audiences in The Passion of Christ (2004), and you have a cinematic thriller treat that the French do oh-so-well and oh-so-often.Take a team of five agents from an unspecified secret French agency, add a notorious gun-runner from Russia, mix with the intrigue and settings in and around Casablanca, in Morocco, stir it all up with CIA mercenaries trying to spoil the fun, and top it all off with betrayal in the midst of the French team and you have 109 minutes of dirty dealings, and some break-neck action that might just leave you breathless. Some of the stunts were simply…stunning; in fact, I just had to re-view – again and again – the last car chase with the most spectacular head-on impact I've yet seen. But then, I'm a sucker for a good car chase ever since I saw Bullit (1968). What! You haven't seen Bullit yet...? Tsk, tsk...The plot is straightforward and the director uses visuals to show most of it with a bare minimum of dialog. It is, however, a relatively complex story, with a number of sub-plots: the French agent who wants to quit, and who pays the price for trying; the degree of collusion between government and dirty business; the nature of the arms trade and why it continues. But, hey, we all know that it's a dirty world, and there are dirty people in it, always ready to do their bit for...for...oh, yeah, democracy.To some extent, I was let down by the final scenes. On reflection, however, it was appropriate, if a bit flat – especially after all that blazing action. You be the judge when you see it.

peterparker-5 There is a lot of walking in this movie, that's for sure. But it isn't a thriller, it isn't an action movie - it's a boring piece of work. At time it is hard to understand what's going on. Not that the story is complex - there hardly is a story - but it is hard to understand because it's directed very, very poorly and at an infuriating pace that seems to be wrong for every scene. I felt really disappointed after watching this one. I can't believe they make this kind of crap. The only good thing is that the always enchanting Monica Bellucci once again shows her two best, breathtaking assets. Cassel on the other hand is not that charismatic. But he gets by better than in his awful role as Blueberry. If you like Cassel and Bellucci, you will be better off if you watch Irreversible.