Running Time: 92 minutes
Directed By: Luc Besson
Written By: Luc Besson, Pierre Jolivet
Main Cast: Pierre Jolivet, Jean Bouise, Fritz Wepper, Jean Reno, Christiane Kruger
Click here to view the trailer
POST-APOCALYPTIC SURVIVAL
With my wife at work, I had a few extra hours to kill before gathering around the dinner table this afternoon, so why not jump in and write the review of the movie I watched last night - "The Last Battle. This is the first Luc Besson film from THE BOOK and unfortunately, the last.
The film takes place in the future, a post-apocalyptic world where everything has been reduced to ruins and we zoom in on a lone man, living in an office building. The film's first shot shows the Man (Jolivet) making love to a blow-up doll, signaling that women in this version of the future may be scarce. We see him scavenging for different materials and ultimately we learn that he's building an airplane. After a while, the Man encounters a group of thugs, killing their leader and inciting a riot among the other thugs. When he returns home, to his office building, he leads the thugs to him and he's chased out of his temporary home, flying away in his homemade airplane. Meanwhile, "The Brute" (Reno) is trying desperately to gain access into a hospital, where a lone doctor (Bouise) is hiding out. The doctor proves to be too intelligent for the Brute though and outwits him at every turn. We're not sure why the Brute wants into the hospital, just that he desperately wishes to gain access. Later, the Man encounters the Brute and is severely wounded. When he goes down a hole to escape the Brute, he finds a secret passageway into the hospital, much to the surprise of the doctor. The doctor invites him in and sees to his injuries, patching him up and welcoming him. What is the doctor harboring and what will happen if the Brute gains access to the hospital? Oh and in this futuristic world, no one can speak...so there's no dialogue in the entire film.
SPOILER ALERT!
I actually started watching this on Tuesday night, but ended up stopping after twenty minutes because I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. It's a good thing I stopped when I did, because I would have ended up hating this one and ultimately, after last night's viewing, I actually really liked it. According to THE BOOK "The Last Battle" was made for next to no money and it just shows what you can do with a good idea and a some talent. This film is actually really a genius idea and yet, it's so simple. At first, I thought the no dialogue thing was going to hurt it for me, because above all else, I love great dialogue in a film. However, I loved the fact that none of the characters spoke, as it only added to the mystique and uniqueness of the whole movie. I thought all of the actors did a really great job. Not being able to express their character's emotions through the use of words must have been difficult, but everyone was on target, especially Pierre Jolivet, whom I loved.
If I had to complain, I'd say that there really didn't seem to be any ultimate goal in the film. Usually when you see a post-apocalyptic film, the characters in it have some sort of goal - they have to search for food, make their way to a power grid or do something that gives their actions meaning. In "The Last Battle", The Man really doesn't have a goal. He's builds an airplane and then he just flies away and eventually lands near the hospital where he has a fight and is picked up by the doctor. However, even that argument became invalid when I read THE BOOK and it was made clear that apparently the doctor was trying to repopulate the world, using the woman he had locked up and the Man. I wasn't really clear on that when I was watching, but THE BOOK pointed it out. That means that the characters actions are deemed valuable, the Brute is clearly labeled as the bad guy, because his attempts to gain access into the hospital were so that he could kill the woman and everyone has a proper place and action.
Anyway, it's a fine film, one that I'd recommend to the right crowd. Some people are going to hate it though, because it's just not a film that's going to appeal to every taste. I'm really surprised that this is the only Luc Besson film in THE BOOK, because people usually go ape for "The Professional" and it was excluded. Not complaining, just surprised. Personally, I was never a huge fan of "The Professional", so I'm good with their choice.
RATING: 7.5/10 Can it make the TOP 20 or Ten Worth Mentioning list or did it arrive too late to really spark something for me? We shall see...
MOVIES WATCHED: 585
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 416
November 22, 2012 11:50am
Happy Thanksgiving
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