Im Auge des Wolfes

The Crew is a very tense film, but nothing stellar if you're not in a thinking mood. Although not the most intelligent crime thriller, dropping the in-your-face attitude of the typical action blockbuster benefits the suspense of this movie. More often than not, I found myself contemplating what would happen next, above all else. And, with the best timing--although not too frequently--morbidly quick action cuts in to blow the tension. If you want helicopters dropping nuclear warheads on every world leader while the protagonist has to scale buildings in order to save the planet from extinction--go watch Mission Impossible. But if you want a story capitalizing on tension and brevity in order to recall the double-edged tragic tales of an assortment of real, tangible characters, The Crew is a great choice.

This film rattles along at a good pace and doesn't feel the need to extend its 80 minutes running time with unnecessary backstories. It doesn't ask us to like the characters or feel any sympathy for them - they are what they are, take them or leave them. Ten minutes shorter than any premier league match with a lot more action and better French acting to boot.

Good action for a B-movie. Not much story if you are looking for that, just simple plot, straight to action. You wont get deep in any character. But that's ok for me as I didn't even realized I was fully engaged throughout. Its only too bad that story ended abruptly. I wish they developed the ending more. But its already 2 hours.

No matter what, Braqueurs will always draw comparisons to the 1995 Hollywood movie Heat as Heat was made 20 years earlier and has a very similar storyline. But on the whole Braqueurs has a soul on its own and is very good to watch, even as cliches galore. Having been fed on a regular dose of Hollywood styled action and heist movies since the mid 80s, I found Braqueurs to be quite impressive and engaging, with some strong believable characters and hardcore action stunts. Director Julien Leclercq is impress us with his treatment and storytelling ability.

Cinematography is very strong and the action scenes are very well shot and presented. Screenplay though cliched heavily or repeated many hundred times in the past decades, is still impressive with its characters and pacing. The ability to spring a surprise is another strong point of Julien Leclerq with his visuals. Music was handled very well, in fact the music director knew very well, when to keep quiet. I wish the editor had put in more than the final cut's 81 minutes runtime. Production design, costumes and makeup were all good. On the acting front though nobody impressed much but the fact is nobody disappointed either.

Overall, Braqueurs is a highly recommended movie for all action movie fans around the world. The movie may not suit young audiences, as it contains some nudity. At 81 minutes runtime this movie will be over in a jiffy and is worth a try for its pulsating joyride it provides. Braqueurs, the French gangster flick is the kind of movie that seriously punches way above its weight and is in line with Troopa de elite, The Raid and Extraction to name a few others. A solid 6.8 stars out of 10 for a serious but fun stellar action movie.

That's one quick-fire French gritty gangster movie, showing the true face of crime. Outcomes of certain actions were logical and this is the main reason makes sense. Actions have consequences. Nobody said they should be beautiful. It's short and it's real. Press play.