This film had almost everything going for it. A good cast, solid idea and the potential for lots and lots of gun play. Sadly it was let down by some not insubstantial shortfalls in the story including limited character development. There's a real absence of logic in a lot of what takes place story wise with a thin overriding motivation on the part of the bad guys, that does not stand up to scrutiny. The potential for contemporized Western style gun play is lost too. A great showdown between the key protagonist and his nemesis is watered down and disappoints. Characters, equally, who look interesting and could have jelled well ,enhancing the story, are either overlooked or killed off too early, to contribute anything meaningful. This is such a shame but sadly what you are left with is a marginally watchable French cop drama with a flaky story-line and a few underwhelming gun fights. 5/10 from me.

The premise of the movie is rather intriguing: A young police-man, working as instructor and gun-smith gets entangled in the machinations of a secret police force.Unfortunately the movie does not live up the the high standards it set itself.The story starts out with Vincent (protagonist) being at some sort of tournament. This tournament is basically a time-trail: kill the most people in the shortest time possible (excuse moi, targets). Since Vincent is the beast, he is being singled out by some sort of shady recruiter for some clandestine organization, but refuses the offer to join some sort of shady "above the law" task force. "You were born to rule in hell, not to serve in heaven" - that's how he's described by that recruiter.This is where the story gets a bit convoluted and gnarly. Milo is being hired to get Vincent recruited but the entire stunt backfires. The covert-ops guys are SO above and beyond the law, that they do not get official funding, but have to get their own money. To do so they rob a money transport and afterward kill a few local thugs to grab their equipment and loot. Seriously?From there on the movie spirals into a half-baked back and fro of somewhat related sub-plots: Police corruption, local rivalries between cops (on both a personal, as well well as professional level), unfinished sub-plots and some real life drama.Luckily the movie sheds this entire plumage of frill towards the end gets its act together. The acting is decent, and I really liked the character portrayals. Also, the casting was, IMO, rather good. Especially the supporting characters were life-like and really 'tart', big plus. As per usual in Euroflicks the action is stout, the violence is brutal, and little is larger than life- which really salvaged the entire pot- hole ridden ride. A decent flick for the Euroflick enthusiast.

Wasn't expecting much but it was a pleasant surprise! It's very violent, very bleak. The story is easy to follow but some plot points had me scratching my head. A reviewer said the film was butchered by suits and it kinda figure why some plot points didn't make any sense. But the film is still good though. The shootouts were good, very intense. The actors did a good job and they use their guns like pros. Going through the cast and crew list, I wasn't surprised the guy who worked on Heat and Collateral was involved in that film. If the film was cut by the studio, I wonder what the director's cut would be like. Bottom line: it was good to see an old school action film that isn't a blockbuster, superhero flick or a reboot, remake or whatever Hollywood is doing these days. The french know how to do it!

From Belgium, here comes the fifth movie directed by Fabrice Du Welz.And what an excellent thriller, a unique and tragic initiation for a young cop who is the most skillful in guns but refuses to get involved in criminal investigation. But he is required by some very special cops, and what a hell... in the french war police. His story is diving in deeper and darker waters...Ymanol Perset is perfect in playing this magnificent character. We must not forget Gérard Lanvin, Joey Starr, Alexandre Brasseur (remember his father Claude in Robin Davis movie on a similar subject 35 years ago) and all the others. Special appearance by Gerard Watkins (son of Peter Watkins).Du Welz direction is precise and full of strong surprises, offering us a 85 minutes masterpiece, no length at all.Hanx to Philippe for recommending it since a long time.