User reviews

If you were (or are) a cynic, you would be excused to think this could be an ad for pro gun people/organisation. The NRA will surely love this, if they have watched it that is. Then again, this being french they may not even be aware of it. But if you leave that aside and just can enjoy the movie for what it is: a fictional crime story with lots of action.

The stunt/action scenes are really good. And as mentioned the movie is french and up until now there is no remake in sight, which is a bit surprising. You could see an US version of this for many reasons. Apart from the already mentioned, the tension is there and the movie really holds up everything until the end. Which may or may not be dissapointing to some ...

This film had almost everything going for it. A good cast, solid idea and the potential for lots and lots of gun play.

Sadly it was let down by some not insubstantial shortfalls in the story including limited character development. There's a real absence of logic in a lot of what takes place story wise with a thin overriding motivation on the part of the bad guys, that does not stand up to scrutiny.

The potential for contemporized Western style gun play is lost too. A great showdown between the key protagonist and his nemesis is watered down and disappoints.

Characters, equally, who look interesting and could have jelled well ,enhancing the story, are either overlooked or killed off too early, to contribute anything meaningful.

This is such a shame but sadly what you are left with is a marginally watchable French cop drama with a flaky story-line and a few underwhelming gun fights. 5/10 from me.

Quite an impressive flick about a young cop with superb shooter capabilities, but who fiercely objects to taking part into joining an attack squad, because he abhors violence. The core of this story is about the moral struggle this young and inexperienced politceman has to got through to. What is right or wrong? Original plot, which I applaud.

There are enough hardhitting, bleak and mean violent action scenes to be seen, but they only come in the last 20 or so minutes.

But when they come, they do impress! So have some patience, because it has got quite a slowburning start, without much action or thrill.

Solid police crime flick. Subtle, but bleak. Quite impressive.

Very common gun war movies. The color of the picture is bleak and the plot setting is unreasonable. The rhythm does not fluctuate too much and the characters have no characteristics. The advantage is that the gun battle is realistic and the cartridge clips are limited.

Wasn't expecting much but it was a pleasant surprise! It's very violent, very bleak. The story is easy to follow but some plot points had me scratching my head. A reviewer said the film was butchered by suits and it kinda figure why some plot points didn't make any sense. But the film is still good though. The shootouts were good, very intense. The actors did a good job and they use their guns like pros. Going through the cast and crew list, I wasn't surprised the guy who worked on Heat and Collateral was involved in that film. If the film was cut by the studio, I wonder what the director's cut would be like. Bottom line: it was good to see an old school action film that isn't a blockbuster, superhero flick or a reboot, remake or whatever Hollywood is doing these days. The french know how to do it!

From Belgium, here comes the fifth movie directed by Fabrice Du Welz.

And what an excellent thriller, a unique and tragic initiation for a young cop who is the most skillful in guns but refuses to get involved in criminal investigation. But he is required by some very special cops, and what a hell... in the french war police. His story is diving in deeper and darker waters...

Ymanol Perset is perfect in playing this magnificent character. We must not forget Gérard Lanvin, Joey Starr, Alexandre Brasseur (remember his father Claude in Robin Davis movie on a similar subject 35 years ago) and all the others. Special appearance by Gerard Watkins (son of Peter Watkins).

Du Welz direction is precise and full of strong surprises, offering us a 85 minutes masterpiece, no length at all.

Hanx to Philippe for recommending it since a long time.