Indiana Jones meets the X-chromosome for some far-flung, Luc Besson inspired fun...

Luc Besson has always had a thing for strong-willed heroines. Indeed, most of his live action directorial work is led by such characters (Nikita, Léon, The Fifth Element). It should come as no surprise then that his latest feature, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, stars an adventurous heroine. Or should it? In recent years, Besson has devoted more of his time to writing and producing films for other directors such as Pierre Morel’s Taken and From Paris With Love. Many of these movies present a hard nut action hero (and they don’t come much harder than The Stath in Louis Leterrier’s Transporter films) with the principal female leads often in distress or danger. Perhaps after a string of male-oriented movies Besson thought it was time to redress the balance; and boy, does he redress it!

The film stars Louise Bourgoin in her debut feature as the titular heroine, an archaeologist-explorer-adventurer-author type, a sort of female Indiana Jones. Only she is a woman, she is French and she has an incredibly sick sister whose only hope is a cure from a doctor who happens to be an Egyptian mummy. Ignoring her publishers’ wishes, Adèle sets out to track down the mummy’s tomb and bring it home so that her good friend, Professor Espérandieu, can bring it back to life. In the meantime however, said professor manages to accidentally hatch and take control of a prehistoric pterodactyl that goes on a rampage around Paris.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, led by the brilliantly sassy, quick-witted and beautiful Bourgoin who establishes Adèle as the kind of character you root for immediately. There is plenty of action and adventure, and all of the characters involved have their own individual personalities that are fun to watch. Many, including Mathieu Amalric’s (Quantum of Solace) Dieuleveult, who is surely to become Adèle’s greatest enemy in a (possible) sequel, are heavily covered in convincing make-up and prosthetics. To my mind this is how a live adaptation of Tintin should look, not the dead-behind-the-eyes motion capture CGI nonsense.

Since I’m on the subject of CGI, it has to be said that the computer animation in this movie - while featured sporadically - is not particularly convincing. For a plot that involves a pterodactyl the CGI isn't good enough, but it does add to the film’s charm; watch as Adèle struggles to get the dinosaur under control by climbing on its back. The relationship between this half of the film and Adèle’s quest to revive her sister is also one of the film’s weaknesses. Whilst there is an overlap with characters - and we get to see Adèle’s other relationships - the two halves never entirely cohere. Indeed, Adèle doesn’t even meet the pterodactyl until a long way into the film.

While the film relies predominately on Adèle’s charm and a number of enjoyable action sequences, it does have a rather dark side that is more in keeping with Temple of Doom than Raiders of the Lost Ark. The balance between light and dark is carefully done but, to those debating on whether or not their under-12 should be allowed to watch it, its dark side is preciously that...dark.

The sadness that lingers behind Adèle’s eyes is clearly explained in a sequence detailing how her sister fell ill during a game of tennis. While not graphic, one moment in particular is certainly on a par with the Joker and the pencil incident from The Dark Knight. There is also a comical beheading (if there is such a thing) that should probably not be seen by younger eyes. This change in tone is not half as baffling, however, as the small section in the middle of the film where we see Adèle in the bath... boobs ‘n’ all! Now I’m certainly not averse to seeing the gorgeous Louise Bourgoin’s bosom, but for a film that is aimed at the family market it doesn’t really fit. It’s not even like the scene is particularly necessary for any other reason.

Nevertheless, there is a huge amount to enjoy about The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, and I had a blast adventuring with Adèle and laughing at the bumbling French policemen. Full of humour, shocks, globetrotting and wonderfully memorable characters, Besson may have chosen a leftfield movie to come back with but it was definitely worth it. Oh, and it is worth pointing out that it is based on a series of comics by Jacques Tardi that I have never read, thus demonstrating that you don’t need to have any prior knowledge of the source material to fully enjoy it. Roll on the sequel!

Director: Luc Besson
DVD Release Date: 15th August 2011
Running Time:  103 mins    
Certificate:  12
Starring: Louise Bourgoin, Mathieu Almaric and Gilles Lellouche

See also:

Luc Besson revisits sci-fi in new film project

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