Reviews

Apostle is a 2018 period live action-2D animatedhorror film written, directed and edited by Gareth Evans and starring Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Mark Lewis Jones, Bill Milner, Kristine Froseth, Paul Higgins and Michael Sheen. It had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in September 2018. The film began streaming on Netflix on 12 October 2018. The story follows a British man as he attempts to rescue his sister from an evil cult on a remote island.

First I was afraid (but not petrified), because almost all of the Netflix productions I've stumbled onto were flawed movies with annoying political correctness sprinkled here and there, when it wasn't the full movie whose only goal was apparently to spread a political/sociological agenda. This is not the case here. I think I know what pleased Netflix here: a good part of the movie is an harsh criticism of religion (linked to catholicism of course), and also an attack on the traditionalism, but this time it's subtle enough to serve the story. I knew Gareth Evans for his two extremely awesome and graphic Raid movies so I was really curious to see him in charge of another story. He didn't disappoint. From the mystery of the first part to the violent climax, the director knows his job and builds a tense suspense, followed in the last part by several bloody explosions of violence. The SFX are great and some tortures even look painful. The main characters are interesting enough to care about what happens to them. I read in some reviews that the second part of the film was just an accumulation of violent scenes, I beg to differ, it's not a silly gorefest, just the logical follow up of all the released tension. I also really liked the mystical/fantasy aspect of a few scenes, with discreet but relevant pagan influences. I'm looking forward to see anything by Gareth Evans.

Taken (also titled 96 Hours and The Hostage) is a 2008 English-language French action-thriller film written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and directed by Pierre Morel. It stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Katie Cassidy, Leland Orser, and Holly Valance. Neeson plays Bryan Mills, a former CIA operative who sets about tracking down his teenage daughter Kim (Grace) and her best friend Amanda (Cassidy) after the two girls are kidnapped by Albanian human traffickers while traveling in France during a vacation.

Taken was a really good surprise. I was expecting a brain-dead action blockbuster but what I had was a good action-packed thriller with nice cinematography and a fairly lucid view on the situation of Paris nowadays. As a Paris resident, I can tell you that the Albanian traffics are a real problem in this city and, even if it's hidden most of the time, it's slowly killing some districts. Taken shows a clear, un-PC view of what happens in the shadow. Liam Neeson plays an iconic character, he's helped by a beautiful photography highlighting some of the most beautiful roads of the French capital, especially in an awesome scene of chase near the end. Producted by Luc Besson, and far better than what he's directing nowadays, an effective movie who gave birth to a rather successful sequel and a fairly disappointing third opus.