Largo Winch II

Having watched the first Largo Winch movie just a few days earlier, I was excited to view the sequel and it definitely delivered on many levels. The acting by Tomer Sisley as the unwilling billionaire heir Largo Winch is by far stronger than in the original movie, and the other main characters such as the Burman villager Malunai and Alexandre Jung (played by the now late Laurent Terzieff) contributed to the storyline in an endearing and believable way.

The Burma Conspiracy contains most of the elements of a great action movie. Strong acting, colourful characters and as an extra bonus we're also introduced to a comical Eastern European villain. The have upped the pace significantly relative to the first Largo Winch flick, and added a few fairly violent action scenes but nothing that detracts the attention from the main plot in a negative way. The movie takes the viewer on a tour of some exciting locations such as Thailand, Burma, Hong Kong and Switzerland and the scenery is indeed eye-catching even for the most seasoned traveller.

Hollywood Reporter gave this movie an unfair bashing in their recent review. For any honest fan of action movies, The Burma Conspiracy is certainly one not to be missed and most definitely places itself in the upper echelons of releases in this genre to have hit the cinema in the last few years. It is indeed quite a shame that cinema distribution outside the Francophone countries has been fairly limited.

Selling an empire to fund a humanitarian foundation? Sounds noble, but in Largo Winch's world, it's like asking Elon Musk to become a Buddhist monk. It reeks of disaster, and naturally, everything goes south. Accused of crimes against humanity-because shoplifting would've been too mundane-our rumpled-suit billionaire has to play Indiana Jones in the Burmese jungle. Between convoluted twists and flashbacks that smell like discount cologne, this feels more like The Bold and the Beautiful pretending to be a thriller.

Sharon Stone joins the cast, and you wonder if it's a nod to Basic Instinct or a result of bad financial planning. Her character, who probably seemed badass on paper, barely makes an impact, instead serving as a "look, we're legit!" token. It's doubtful she even read the script before signing on. The result? She's as relevant to the plot as a rubber duck in a crocodile-infested swamp.

Comic purists will be screaming into the void. Once again, the writers have mashed multiple graphic novels together like toddlers with a 1000-piece puzzle. The storylines overlap, intertwine, and ultimately collapse under their own weight. It's entertaining, sure, but feels like watered-down whiskey-lacking the punch. A faithful adaptation would've been appreciated, but fidelity, it seems, isn't this franchise's strong suit.

Then there's the casting blunder. Swapping an actor between films is the kind of faux pas that immediately raises eyebrows. Freddy morphs into someone entirely new, as if no one would notice. But we noticed, Jérôme Salle. It's like slapping a Ferrari sticker on a Dacia-nice try, but it doesn't fly.

The action scenes partially redeem the film. They're paced well and keep things moving, but they're nothing groundbreaking. Tomer Sisley tries his best to embody a believable Largo, but he still falls short. He lacks that presence, that intangible "something" that could've made the film a guilty pleasure. Instead, it's more "meh, it's watchable."

Largo Winch II is like reheated leftovers in a microwave-it'll do in a pinch but lacks flavor. Between Sharon Stone's underutilized role, a wobbly cast, and plots hacked apart with a machete, the film misses out on its potential. Entertaining? Yes. Unforgettable? Definitely not. But hey, it's an okay way to kill an evening, and at least the Burmese scenery is gorgeous.

Strong banzi flavor, long-legged man master second everything. The plot is chaotic, the characters are complicated and their faces are blurred. Many of the plots in the plot do not know what to say, and many pits are not filled in.

But not by that much. Actually the main actor does help a lot and the vote could have been lower without him. Sharon Stone on the other hand, seems almost completely misplaced. I'm not sure if they had American backing or if the director/producer or whoever was a fan of hers, but she almost put me off the movie. And I quite like her in other movies, but this one ...

With that being said, we get more of Largo and his back-story. While I'm not familiar with the source material (haven't read anything, only watched the first movie), it seems like there is a rich story behind the character. I'm not sure if there will be another installment into the series (could go even further back I guess), but I do know that Largo made an impression on me overall. Good action-thriller that delivers what it needs to

I have seen Largo Winch 1 three times, because I was taken in by the way the story has been told. Somewhat different to the way Hollywood tells a story. I looked forward for more of this kind and expected something similar with Largo Winch 2. Boy was I wrong. Whilst the first installment was fresh and had new ideas this sequel had nothing new to it. To the contrary, it just followed mainstream and Zeitgeit. Which is perhaps annoying, but bearable, especially, when your in the same mindset. But more serious is when the acting is bad, the dialogs sound wrong and the story simply is bad. And that is here the case. I can not recommend this to anybody.