Luc Besson, acclaimed French director of Taxi, The Fifth Element and, er, Arthur & The Minimoys, said he was going to give up directing after 10 movies. And he did, for a bit. But thankfully he made a return with the bizarre and wonderful The Extraordinary Adventures Of Adele Blanc-Sec.
It's based on the comic book by Jacques Tardi and follows the exploits of infamous reporter and adventurer Adele, taking place 100 years ago in Egypt and Paris. It kind of reminds me of Stephen Sommers Mummy movies...but if that franchise had got it right in terms of judging the correct amount of silliness, the right amount of strangeness and the appropriate amount of character stuff. The story might be totally weird mixing Egyptian mummys, pterodactyls, mad scientists, big game hunters, prison break outs, resurrections and death from tennis...but it does so with wit, sophistication, a handsomely realised period world and an offbeat cast.
It's brilliantly held together by Louise Bourgoin as the title character. Not only is she utterly beautiful, but she has a flippant, tomboy-ish, contemporary attitude that clashes with her refined, classy attired exterior. It's a kind of female version of the roguish charm that made the Indy movies so watchable...except embodied in a feisty and curvaceous adventuress. Nice.
Of course it's Besson, so the farcical aspects won't be to every bodies liking and there may not be enough action for the MTV crowd. But it's got enough dry humour, cliffhanger escapes and radical banter (the Mummy conversations remind me of episodes of Angel) to make this a must watch movie. I just hope they make the sequel hinted at in the closing moments.
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