Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec

An adventure set in the early part of the 20th century and set in Paris in the years before and after WWI, revolve around the protagonist Adèle Blanc-Sec in a succession of far-fetched incidents . It is loosely based on the comic book series of the same name by Jacques Tardi and, as in the comic, follows the eponymous writer and a number of reoccurring side characters in 1910s Paris and beyond, in this episode revolving around parapsychology and ultra-advanced Ancient Egyptian technology. A cynical heroine, she is initially a novelist of popular fiction, who turns to investigative journalism as her research and subsequent adventures reveal further details of the mystical world of crime. It starts with the popular novelist named Adele ( rising central star Louise Bourgoin) and her dealings with would-be suitors (Amalric), a Police Inspector (Lellouch), a Pterosaur , and other distractions . She finds herself involved after returning from Egypt, where she was searching for Ramesses II's mummified doctor. She wants to revive the mummy with the help of Espérandieu (Nercessian) so the Egyptian doctor can save her sister Agathe (Clermont) .

This entertaining film packs fantasy , Science and action which both pastiche and subvert adventure and speculative fiction of the period ¨Belle Epoque¨. The popularity of the comic has made it much in demand for adaptation into other media, the first to be approved by Tardi being a projected trilogy of live-action feature films adapted and directed by Luc Besson, the first of which, also titled like the comic book The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec was released in France on April 14, 2010 and latterly in numerous other markets, including the United Kingdom. The picture incorporates contemporary action film as well as much use of computer animation to portray its fanciful elements , furthermore visual effects within the form of the older-style adventure films they have largely superseded. Atmospheric musical score by Eric Serra , fitting splendidly to action and intrigue . Colorful cinematography by Thierry Arbogast and perfectly remastered . The motion picture is lavishly produced by Eurocorps (Besson Production Company) and professionally directed by Luc Besson with his ordinary visual pyrotechnics . He often casts Jean Reno (though here doesn't appear) and music always by Eric Serra. Besson is the greatest producer and director from France with hits as ¨Leon¨ , ¨Joan of Arc¨ , ¨The fifth element¨ , the ¨Taxi¨ series , ¨Big blue¨ , ¨Arthur and the Minimois¨ , ¨Nikita¨ and many others . Rating : Acceptable and passable, 6 .This is a highly amusing and frequently funny action-adventure romp with a witty script, sensational special effects and a terrific performances from main cast .

"Les aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec" is a good film. It almost qualifies for very good, but there a few small details which are poorly executed and which bar it from reaching its full potential.

The film has three excellent elements: masterful pacing, perfect editing and a great leading actress. Louise Bourgoin carries the movie with no apparent effort; the character of Mlle. Adèle Blanc-Sec "comme le vin" (*) fits right in with the minutely reconstructed Paris near the beginning of the 20th century. The quick pacing and seamless editing convey the thrill of moving from panel to panel in a comics (**) book (and I suspect that this was the intended effect).

(*) "Blanc sec" is French for "dry white". She helpfully tells a police officer that her name is "Dry White, as the wine", adding that he probably knows very well how to spell that.

(**) (For Americans) Note that in France and Belgium (and in Italy, to some extent) comics ("B.D." for "bandes dessinées") are an art form bearing little resemblance with Marvel's productions.

To get the most from the film you should watch it in the original French -- if you understand French, of course (subtitles may help). Part of the zany humor derives from the untranslatable undertones and rhythm of the dialog and narration.

The small details which detract from the overall beauty of the film consists in a few brief scenes where the computer-generated special effects should have been better. Carelessness is the word -- the vast majority of scenes containing CGI are well executed.

Funny, wacky, silly adventure comedy, it falls a bit flat during the long parallel montage of Adèle's failed attempts to take Prof. Espérandieu out of jail, while Caponi and Saint-Hubert disguised as lambs wait to catch the pterodactyl. This is clean entertainment, based on a French comic, with robberty of national treasures in foreign lands, deaths, female abuse and enough violence, to keep it rooted to reality, but thankfully it is far from the ideologically offensive and brutish world of Indiana Jones and his bunch. Louise Bourgoin is a beautiful Adèle, Nercessian's performance is a pleasure to watch, Giraud is a charming suitor, Lellouch is a quirky relative of Inspector Clouseau, and Amalric, the perfect villain. Delighfully French main course for a Sunday matinee.

There are a number of rather sniffy reviews of this film on IMDb which are entirely unfair. It seems some viewers were misled by the preview and were expecting a French version of "The Mummy" or "Raiders". It really isn't at all. Despite featuring tomb-robbing, exciting escapes, prison breaks, pterodactyls and mummies this film is more like "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" with better jokes or "The Fifth Element" set in France at the start of the 20th century. It's a surreal adventure comedy that never takes itself seriously.

The plot has journalist and adventurer Adele attempting to retrieve the mummy of an Egyptian physician so that he can be brought back to life by an eminent professor who has studied arcane Egyptian rituals. Unfortunately, the eminent professor has been practising his life- restoring skills on a pterodactyl which proceeds to terrorise Paris and he (the professor) is sent to prison. Can Adele rescue him?

You'll have to watch to find out.

I really enjoyed this. It is definitely sort of kooky so please don't expect "Pirates of the Caribbean" or something like that. It's an extremely silly, but very entertaining 1 hour and 45 minutes that has more in common with the campy comic-book adventures of "Doc Savage" than Indiana Jones. The very matter-of-fact mummies are a hoot as is the pterodactyl. Most importantly of all, the jokes are actually funny and I found myself laughing out loud (something I rarely do).

p.s. For those of you who think this film sounds suitable for little 'uns, well it probably is apart from the fact that this is a French film and therefore the heroine gets in the nip. Tell the little tykes to turn their backs.

In 1911, in Paris, the bold journalist Adèle Blanc-Sec (Louise Bourgoin) is assigned by her editor to travel to Peru to write about the Incas, but she goes to Egypt instead to seek out the mummy of a doctor of Ramses II to bring him to Paris. Adèle has an agreement with Professor Marie-Joseph Espérandieu (Jacky Nercessian) that has the ability of bringing the dead back to life to resurrect the doctor to heel her twin sister Agathe Blanc-Sec (Laure de Clermont), who has been catatonic and paraplegic for five years due to an accident caused by Adèle. However, Professor Espérandieu is arrested in prison and sentenced to death after bringing to life a pterodactyl from an ancient egg in Louvre that caused the death of three persons. Now the last hope of Agathe is that Adèle saves Professor Espérandieu from the guillotine.

"Les Aventures Extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec" is a highly entertaining and funny adventure by Luc Besson. Last week, I was zapping the television and I saw the last part of the adventure of Adèle Blanc- Sec. Today I have just watched this movie on DVD with my family and we really enjoyed the story. The weird and bizarre characters slightly recall the surrealism of Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet in "Delicatessen and "La Cité des Enfants Perdus". My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "As Múmias do Faraó"("The Mummies of the Pharaoh")