20131008: Action Review--Special Forces

Special Forces

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. French live action feature length film, 2011, rated R, 108 minutes, action-adventure, thriller.  Spoken language is French; English subtitles.
2. IMDB: 6.1/10.0 from 10, 144 users; estimated budget, 10 million euros.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 15% on the meter; 52% liked it from 1,852 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 3.9/5.0 from 405,184 ratings.
5. Directed by: Stephane Rybojad.
6. Starring: Diane Kruger as Elsa Cassanova, Djimon Hounsou as Kovax, Tcheky Karyo as Admiral Guezennec, Benoit Magimel as Tic Tac, Denis Menochet as Lucas, Raphael Personnaz as Elias, Alain Figlarz as Victor, Alain Alivon as Marius, Mehdi Nebbou as Amen, Raz Degan as Ahmed Zaief, Morjana Alaoui as Maina


2. Setup and Plot
1. Maina gives Elsa an interview.  She reveals her face, and the fact that her family sold her as a child to Zaief.  This sets the stage for all the difficulties that follow.


2. Emily is kidnapped, French special forces gather to rescue her with the backing of the highest reaches of the French government.


3. Zaief has an interview with a high-ranking religious figure; he does not quite get the blessing he had hoped for.  Maina and some of her supporters are murdered, firing squad style.  The Special Forces group does not intervene, since their orders are for reconnaissance only.


4. They find Elsa and Amen early on, and start the long and winding escort to freedom.


5. Forty minutes in, their expected evacuation by helicopter fails due to lack of radio contact.  This seemed a bit implausible, but allowed the rest of the screenplay to proceed.


6. They continue with the odds against them.  Sacrifices are made, and the mission is eventually successful in a technical sense.


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: French against-all-odds rescue mission in Pakistan; far better than recent Stallone efforts.
2. Four stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Top notch; magnificent visuals.


2. Sound: 10/10 Great sound.


3. Acting: 8/10 I thought the actors performed well versus the script.


4. Screenplay: 7/10 Dragged a bit in the middle.  A small number of the fighting tactics looked amateurishly stupid.  Compared to a number of recent American action films, this is intelligent, well plotted, and engaging.