AKA

I chanced upon this French crime-action-thriller on Netflix and was totally taken aback by the planning and execution of it's action scenes, though it is not a genre that I particularly enjoy.

Alban Lenoir, the co-writer & lead actor of the film looks ultra-skilled and effortless in both hand-to-hand combat and close range shooting scenes.

There is enough blood and gore in the movie, but still the movie appears realistic. Even though the body count is high, the act in itself is never glorified.

Amidst all the blazing guns and bullet wounds on his body, Alban Lenoir's Adam Franco, the protagonist turns out to be quite headstrong in protecting young children, which adds the required humanity angle to the film.

The story unfolds at a relatively slower rate, but it's never boring. Your 122 minutes are well taken care of.

What a nice action gem. The cinematography is fabolous. It's very much like Hard Boiled; Die Hard and all those big 1990's action movies rolled into one.

Alban Lenoir is a star! Such cinematic presence with chic style and gaelic flair! C'est bon! Wow. Eric Cantona can act as well. Some great lines from him.

The storyline is a nice twist and turn and not at all mundane like most cliche gangsta movies. It's refreshing and stylish with some magnificent direction.

Saïdou Camara does a great cool calm and collected job of Pee Wee. Philippe Résimont is also a class act. The scene of the heist is very much like John Woo's Hard Boiled and Michael Mann's Heat as well as Die Hard. The drugs' den takeout is very much stylised like Oldboy but with guns instead of a hammer.

It's a nice movie and something I can easily watch again. It's popcorn entertainment and another gem in the recent French cinema wave. Just keep them coming!

Morgan S. Dalibert your cinema reminds me of Jean-Pierre Melville! Super!

AKA (2023 release from France; 118 min) brings the story of Adam Franco, an undercover special opps guy who is afraid of nothing or nobody. The French Minister of the Interior's chief of staff orders Franco to infiltrate a criminal gang in order to track down the whereabouts of a bombing suspect.... At this point we are less than 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the feature length directing debut of Morgan Dalibert, previously a well-known cinematographer. Dalibert co-wrote the script along with Alban Lenoir, the erstwhile stunt man-turned-actor who plays the role of Adam Franco. These two know each other well, having collaborated on "Lost Bullet". Here they bring a gritty crime drama. I must admit that based on the film's opening sequence, I was expecting something more glamorous, but once the story really got goin, I found myself fully invested. Let me be very clear, tough: this is a very violent movie, and the body count is off the chart, so if that is not your thing, please find something else to watch. Eric Cantona alert! Yes, the French soccer star from the 1990s who played for Manchester United for 5 years, has continued to build a very nice acting career after retiring from football. Here he plays the head of the criminal gang, one of the pivotal roles in this film. Bottom line: my expectations were surpassed with this movie, and these 2 hours just flew by.

AKA started streaming on Netflix just last weekend, and I watched it last night. If you like a crime drama that is gritty and violent, yet that is also wildly entertaining with solid performances all around, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

AKA French action movie on Netflix created by the team Lost Bullet. The story follows an undercover agent who must face an emotional test when he infiltrates a gang of criminals and unexpectedly forms a close bond with the boss's son.

This is an action-drama movie with well-written plot details that successfully blend moral principles with the role of a killer spy. Despite Alban Lenoir not having a traditionally handsome appearance, his acting skills in this movie are much more impressive compared to his previous work in "Lost Bullet." His intense solo action scenes are still present even though the movie emphasizes more on the drama aspect. Overall, this is a highly recommended streaming movie that should not be missed.

Dalibert is no stranger to this genre of action film. He could have taken the easy route and strung together a series of action tropes to move things along. He knows how to do it. He has done it before. And well. But this time he rolled the dice on a much harder bet. This time he teased out the characterizations to keep the viewer hooked. This is most definitely NOT some sort of clever hodge-podge of different movies. The closest analog is MAN ON FIRE 2004, which also relies heavily on the interaction between a hardened killer and a young boy. This may not be a film for everyone, but the more time you spend with it, the more interesting it gets. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))