OSS 117: From Africa with Love

I have to say upfront I am a huge fan of the 2 previous movies directed by Michel Hazanavicius, I was nervous for this one because I hold them in high regards, and director Hazanavicius was not coming back because "he didn't like the script".

I'm pleased to report the movie still succeed to make us laugh and entertain, Jean Dujardin is back in strong form. His comedic timing is always golden and his facial expressions haven't changed. The aesthetic was also a treat, like the 2 previous movies the set design, color palette and exotic locations makes it a beautiful film to look at. Maybe not as good as the other ones but still solid.

I would say that the story/plot is probably the weakest point of the film, it drags a bit with a 2-hour runtime and they try to introduce a new agent played by Pierre Niney that feels a bit forced and didn't really work for me, it was hit & miss (mostly miss) with this character. It feels like they didn't really knew how to end this movie, but it didn't really take away from my enjoyment of it.

This type of comedy can be tricky in today's politically correct day & age, but I thought they stayed true to Hubert and didn't held back. Now that he's going to Africa you can expect him to be maladroit... and he is. It never feels mean however, you can tell he's just an idiot who doesn't know better.

Overall even though it does feel inferior to Rio Ne Répond Plus and Caire Nid d'Espions, it's something I know I'm going to watch again for Jean Dujardin's star performance as Hubert. Bonisseur De La Bath.

Imagine an aging French James Bond in 1981 sent to Africa on a mission and told not to appear either racist or misogynistic. This is the resulting film. Very enjoyable, as long as you understand the underlying humour and political situation - and, of course, performed brilliantly by Oscar-winning Jean Dujardin. The negative reviewers seem to misunderstand the underlying story and the background with which the film-makers have brilliantly dealt. It is not as laugh-a-minute as the original two films, but this is an OSS117 who is several years older and trying to cope with his decline in functions. I actually prefer this film to the original two - it is more developed upon the changing life of the main character - and it is still funny too!

Not so funny than the two previous episodes, this OSS lacks humor (it was more childish, not so provocative as what you would expect from OSS), a better writing (some scenes just sound fake, or repetitive), and more rhythm (a few scenes feel like forever without adding anything to the story). The actors do their best though, Jean Dujardin is excellent as always.

I was expecting more after a lot of advertising on tv, press, online. Not worth the hype.

I loved the two first films , back in 2006 and 2009. It took a long time before the third one of the franchise; Jean Dujardin seems to be the same and the overall structure and atmosphere too. I love his character, who is still the same, no matter the directing and overall story. He is the perfect, pure anti hero: idiot, mysoginist, racist, full of biases, uncultivated. This is precisely the purpose of this film, I repeat, forget the story itself. It is not the worst of the series and despite the fact that I don't like comedies, I prefer them compared to the sixties OSS 117 features, very "serious" ones, spy movies in the right fashion of those years, more or less 007 like movies. With the settings in Africa, this is of course the perfect location to instal the atmosphere of the franchise: lead character's racism, so obvious, and also the pretext to evoke the French politics since so many decades in Africa.

Good movie, very well acted. Good James Bond parody. It's a bit crazy but unfortunately not enough crazy. It could have been a perfect comedy but it seems that fear of sounding racist and sexist keeps screenwriters, dialogue writer and filmmaker from really taking over more crazy. And this fear is gone to last for years.