Make no mistake. The French will take you down.

Pure Adrenaline is a good way to describe this movie. Here’s what its about. The year is 2010 and Paris has turned into a slum, a ghetto of sorts. So, the government built walls around the cities. There are no police, schools, or hospitals. Drug lords run all of the business and control anyone and everyone. However, Leito (David Belle), is somewhat of a leader himself. He has his own small army of henchmen that he pays to keep drugs out of the neighborhood. In fact, the first time you see Leito in the movie he is dumping a million Euros of heroin down the drain. He’s a good guy. Well, to move along, Leito’s sister, Lola, gets kidnapped my the drug dealer who lost all of that heroin and Leito gets arrested by some corrupt police officers. 6 months later. Captain Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli), an undercover cop, teams up with our good friend Leito to diffuse a neutron bomb that was stolen inside of District B13. Also, if the plot sounds a little fishy to you, then that’s a good thing. It should.

First off, the fight scenes are superb. I’m pretty sure many of the actors were free runners, or urban acrobats. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it. The opening scene alone, where Leito destroys all the heroin, has enough action to be spread throughout an entire movie. It’s not just the way he fights though. It’s the way he escapes. He is a master of escaping, a slippery guy that no one can keep their hands on. Not to mention, he is a good guy. His character is well acted and you truly feel that he is a hard ass with a heart of gold underneath.

Captain Tomaso is similar to Leito, almost too similar… They are both really muscular, well built, smaller guys who know how to kick ass. There are differences though. Captain Tomaso plays by the book. He wants to protect and save the world and is willing to risk life and limb to do it, but there are rules and plans to follow. Leito is more of a spontaneous, willy nilly, figure things out on the fly type guy. So, one can only guess what effect this might have. Two mismatched men trying to save two million people with their own ideas? Of course. Some humorous fight scenes, silly one liners, and good back to back fight sequences.

The action is definitely hard to beat in this movie, but there is still more to it. The acting and casting was extremely well done. The drug lords are ruthless, the henchmen are easy to fight off in packs, and the good guys joke about their impending doom. It sounds formulaic, but there is so much more. The twist at the end proves that.

Just a random fact: David Belle invented this discipline known as Parkour, which consists of moving quickly and efficiently in any environment, using only the abilities of the human body. Also, Cyril Raffaelli has quite the resume. He was the stunt coordinator for The Incredible Hulk, Hitman, Transporter, and Transporter 2. That means he was laying the choreography down for Jason Statham. Ya. Everyone knows he’s the ultimate badass. So, that says something about this Raffaelli guy.

This movie made me laugh and yell at some points. Trust me. There is a scene in the beginning where Leito totally owns a police officer. Not to mention, their whole “duo of crime fighters from different backgrounds but common goals” thing they’ve got going on. It’s classic. If you like action and love the French, or like action and don’t like the Frecnh, or don’t like action and like the French, or don’t like action and happen to also not like the French, then see this movie. It will change your opinion on both.

Oh man. I just remembered the cars these gangsters roll around in. Holy shit! Big guys like K2 in tricked out Honda Civics. Ya. This is definitely a must watch. Definitely some tricks up this movie’s sleeve.

You think you know, but you have no idea.

Oldboy is full of twists and turns that no one could ever expect, or at least not me. I had heard that it was a good revenge flick, so I had to check it out. After all, there is nothing as satisfying as a good old fashioned ass kicking, revenge is best served cold movie. However, this movie was not just satisfying. It was not old fashioned at all and the only revenge in this movie was served flaming hot with a heaping spoonful of traumatic mental anguish and ingenious fight scenes.

The setup in the beginning of the movie is enough to keep you seated and intrigued. Basically this guy, Oh Dae-Su, is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years with no explanation. He spends over a decade in the same room, eating the same food, going through the same routines of getting drugged and gassed, until, one day he is set free. Again, with no explanation. He is given a cell phone and a nice suit. You would think that the unexplained imprisonment would be the worst part for Oh Dae-Su, but this movie has some crazy ass tricks up its properly starched and cuff linked sleeve. Anyway, after getting out, Oh Dae-Su learns that he has five days to get revenge on the man who imprisoned him, a man who keeps consistent contact with Oh Dae-Su. So, with the help of a young female accomplice, Oh Dae-Su sets out to find the man who stole fifteen years of his life.

I would have to say that this movie had the most cinematic fight sequence that I have ever seen, just perfectly done. With fifteen years of  imaginary training that consisted of punching and kicking drywall and brick, Oh Dae-Su takes on a swarm of henchmen in the coolest fight scene that I can think of. This alone would make the movie worth seeing.

Another aspect that makes this movie seem so flawless is that it seemed believable. Don’t get me wrong though. Some of the ideas were so far fetched and utterly insane that I had a hard time wrapping my head around them. However, the movie managed to make Oh Dae-Su look so…human. He wasn’t a superhero, a badass, or a genius. If anything, he was pissed off and fueled by rage. He makes mistakes. He takes names and kicks major ass, but then has the tables turned on him. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the script had no formula. It was as if a mad scientist had thrown seemingly random elements into the same boiling pot, and through many skin scorching and limb losing explosions, he discovered the exact mixture for a comedic, gut wrenching, romantic, and calculated revenge bomb to be dropped on your head. Then at the end of the movie, you’re left wandering through the fallout blast wondering what happened to life as you knew it, movies as you knew them.

This movie may not be for everyone, but I highly recommend that you see it simply for its originality and execution of a story that most would not have the heart or balls to make. The acting is phenomenal, as is the action. Plus, the ending will send you through a flurry of mixed emotions and a late night of pondering that makes you question the meaning of what you have just seen. It is actually quite deep. Beautiful in a sort of sick and twisted manner, but also touching.

Props to South Korea for a slam dunk movie.

Seriously, crazy ass shit goes down in this.