Ladronas

As a filmmaker, Mélanie Laurent has made some fine dramas throughout the 2010s. Her foray into Netflix's doomed action-comedy genre yields mixed results. While it portrays the "female friendship" aspect in a way that puts the recent Charlie's Angels film to shame, it struggles to build tension within the set-pieces and concludes in a super-dodgy way. The star performer here undoubtedly is Adèle Exarchopoulos who fully embraces the role of Alex - a sniper with a vulnerable side. Her equation with Caroline (Laurent) is wonderful to watch, and the ladies sure seem to be having fun. Oh, there are bloopers during the closing credits!

The plot just goes through the motions, and the laughs are occasional. Even the addition of a third member (Manon Bresch) doesn't really elevate the stakes. The main antagonist - Godmother, played by Isabelle Adjani - and her relationship with Caroline is only elucidated over a few lines, making it difficult to connect with her "reasons". Of course, then there's Netflixisation of everything - the action comes to sudden halts, some sections deliberately look like song montages, and the story never really comes full circle. That ending is such a cop-out, and that made me reduce ½ a star.