Tweekums

This sequel, set two years after the previous film, sees former Special Forces officer Paul Vilar asked to lead a group of teens through the wilderness. This time he is not so keen but his daughter, who has been invited to accompany them, is enthusiastic. Before setting off a former colleague of Paul's shows them priceless artefacts that are due to be returned to their homeland soon... inevitable somebody wants to steal them. Not long into their expedition the villains ambush the group and tell Paul that unless he gets the artefacts for them they will kill the teens; starting with his daughter.

If you enjoyed the original film I'd say this is worth a watch, although I did prefer the original. There are some decent tense moments but things are less believable; the way Paul gets the artefacts from a supposedly secure military sight is more than a little ridiculous... and that's ignoring the fact that the Noratlas transport aircraft was retired in 1989. The bad guys are very much pantomime villains. On the plus side there is some fun action and it doesn't take itself too seriously. Overall I'd say 'watch this if you enjoyed the original'; it provides decent enough brain-in-neutral entertainment.

These comments are based on watching the film in French with English subtitles. Here in the UK it is made up of episodes three and four of 'The Devil's Leap'; currently available on the Walter Presents strand on Channel Four.

This French wilderness set drama is centred on Paul Vilar. He is a former member of the French Special Forces who has planned a weekend hike with Sara, his seventeen year old daughter, to celebrate their birthdays. She is less keen but agrees to go. On the way they stop off at Paul's uncle's bar where they learn that the authorities suspect people smugglers of operating in the area. Inevitable they run into them; Sara witnesses one of them stabbing one of the migrants... the heavily armed smugglers are determined to leave no witnesses. Paul must use his military skills as he leads his daughter through a dangerous canyon.

'Meeting bad people in the wilderness' is effectively a genre in its own right. I thought this was a decent enough example even if it is pretty obvious that it is made for television and not just because it had been divided into two episodes here. While it is impressively tense much of the time the confrontations with the smugglers are quite tame. As the bad guys, armed with automatic rifles, repeatedly miss when our protagonists are in the open. It is the terrain that proves to be the greater threat... and it does look great with waterfalls and a narrow gorge. Overall I'd not call this a must see but it is decent enough if you enjoy the genre.

These comments are based on watching the film in French with English subtitles.

This French drama opens twenty five years ago with a young woman dying as she falls from a cliff; a murder investigation is started. In the present Lola, another young woman, visits the area for a job interview; everybody looks at her oddly and the invitation to the interview proves to be a hoax. A text suggests she goes to a bar and read the local paper... the lead story is about the events twenty five years ago; the accompanying photograph shows that Lola looks just like the murdered woman. It is suggested that Lola is in fact her daughter. Over the course of the series she learns more about her origins and the events of a quarter of a century ago. As secrets emerge various people involved in the original case end up dead.

I thought this was an intriguing series with plenty of twists and turns and not everything going as expected. The identity of villain is far from obvious with several people I thought more likely suspects being eliminated, sometimes literally, before the denouement; which is admittedly a bit melodramatic. The cast does a solid job and, as is often the case in this sort of series, the setting looks great. Overall I'd say this is well worth watching if you are a fan of Euro crime drama.

These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.