El Raid

This comedy stinks. I'm so happy I had FREE passes to see this one. You know the genre: let's throw in a lot of "f" word, a few stomach cramps, a few jokes about sex and there you go, we have a comedy that'll make people laugh. Well, the problem is the movie is not funny. Except maybe for a few brief scenes with the U.N. team. And even that... We just don't care for the characters. Josiane Balasko and Gérard Jugnot both have seen better days! And finally, the special effects are mediocre for this day and age. And the end is so predictable! Skip this one, by all means.

Out of 100, I gave it 63. That's good for *½ out of ****.

Seen in Toronto, during Cinéfranco, at the Canada Square Cinemas, on March 28th, 2003.

This is indeed not bad and provides silly, relaxing amusement if you don't expect much from it. You certainly don't have to think and the effects are fun rather than heavy-handed. The filmmakers have a strange idea of how to sequence their scenes sometimes -- they lose some of their continuity here -- mainly I guess because they're overly in love with dramatic shifts of locale and costume. Suddenly we are trekking through heavy snow; or running rapids and then falling over a huge waterfall in rubber rafts; or wrestling with crocodiles; or out in a desert surrounded by scrub-covered mountains; we're diving under water -- or is it just a swimming pool? How we get from point A to point B, or even where we are, are apparently not our concern. Also how to know where the main characters get all their gear since at one point they chuck most of it in the river. The hardihood of the cast has to be admired. They look to be doing a lot of their own stunts. For somebody learning French looking to add to their compendium of slang especially banlieue-style terms of abuse this is not to be missed and has something new in every scene.

This French screwball comedy is really quite dire.

The four main characters are the most annoying characters ever to appear in a film, and should all be shot (especially the one with the slitty eyes).

On the other hand, Helene de Fougerolles is really good-looking.

The humour of the film is horrifically bad, with the exception of the brief exchanges between the UN general and captain. Unfortunately this only lasts about 30 seconds, and Helene de Fougerolles takes up maybe 20-25 minutes of screen time in total, so for the remaining 70 minutes you will be regretting your miserable existence.

Probably aimed at a target audience of 14-year-old boys, it misses all possible human audiences by miles. Then again, worse films have been made...