French cinema, not infrequently, offers us some pearls. This is one more. A solid, well-made thriller with action and suspense and two excellent actors in the lead roles. What disillusioned me a little was the ending, which falls into an absurd cliché.
The script is based on an apparent coincidence: two police officers investigating isolated cases end up realizing that they will have to collaborate to solve a case that ultimately unites them: a wave of macabre and mysterious murders, all around an ancient and prestigious university, isolated in the middle of the French Alps.
Much of the quality of the film comes from the excellent performance of Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel, two of the most international and prestigious French actors today. The former gave life to a hard-working, unrelenting professional detective, while the other was able to perfectly embody an unconventional, young, untimely cop. The other actors, for me, were a group of illustrious strangers who only gave support to these two professionals, but it is to be noted that everyone did well what they had to do.
The film made good use of the icy landscapes of the Alps, as well as the whole winter environment. The soundtrack is very good and adds suspense at the right times, as well as sound, visual and special effects. It's not a CGI show, though. It is based entirely on the weight of the two main actors, on the ability of both to interpret well, and on the story told.
As I mentioned initially, the film is perfect until very near the end, when it tries to surprise us with a turnaround that, for me, made no sense and prejudiced the plot. The climax, in the middle of a glacier, is absolutely cliché and boring, and ends up resorting to the ragged solution of the bad twin vs. Nice twin. Absurd. It would have been better to solve the movie otherwise, he truly deserved it. Anyway, as this happens even in the final part, the film is still one of those I like to see.
The script is based on an apparent coincidence: two police officers investigating isolated cases end up realizing that they will have to collaborate to solve a case that ultimately unites them: a wave of macabre and mysterious murders, all around an ancient and prestigious university, isolated in the middle of the French Alps.
Much of the quality of the film comes from the excellent performance of Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel, two of the most international and prestigious French actors today. The former gave life to a hard-working, unrelenting professional detective, while the other was able to perfectly embody an unconventional, young, untimely cop. The other actors, for me, were a group of illustrious strangers who only gave support to these two professionals, but it is to be noted that everyone did well what they had to do.
The film made good use of the icy landscapes of the Alps, as well as the whole winter environment. The soundtrack is very good and adds suspense at the right times, as well as sound, visual and special effects. It's not a CGI show, though. It is based entirely on the weight of the two main actors, on the ability of both to interpret well, and on the story told.
As I mentioned initially, the film is perfect until very near the end, when it tries to surprise us with a turnaround that, for me, made no sense and prejudiced the plot. The climax, in the middle of a glacier, is absolutely cliché and boring, and ends up resorting to the ragged solution of the bad twin vs. Nice twin. Absurd. It would have been better to solve the movie otherwise, he truly deserved it. Anyway, as this happens even in the final part, the film is still one of those I like to see.