Directed and written by Jérôme Salle (who also wrote cinema masterpiece The Tourist), Largo Winch: The Heir Apparent is an action comedy that didn’t intentionally set out to be funny. The film stars the wannabe smoldering Tomer Sisley (who also plays Largo in the sequel The Burma Conspiracy), Kristin Scott Thomas (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) who plays the obvious villainess, Mélanie Thierry (Babylon A.D.) who plays girl he’s supposed to bag by the end, and perpetual bad guy Karel Roden (Hell Boy II and The Borne Supremacy) because his accent makes him suspicious.
A basic review of the basic story is easy to sum up. Orphan boy meets billionaire tycoon adoptive father and spends his life totally bummed out by having to grow up and eventually be forced to inherit said tycoon’s billions. Life can be really hard on a kid sometimes. More specifically, Largo is adopted and not told who his father is until he becomes an adolescent and is then trained by the wise words of his billionaire father how to take over a backstabbing, multinational corporation. Throw in his dad’s murder (SURPRISE! Oh wait, did you expect that one?), have his son attempt to be throw in a third world prison (SURPRISE! Damn it, saw that one too?), and have him escape on his own to make it to the company board meeting where a secret evil Russian has been trying to steal the company away from him (SURP… oh forget it.)
Look, now Largo Winch isn’t trying to compete with capers like the Maltese Falcon. It just wants to make you feel good. So, in that case, it doesn’t do such a bad job. People get their faces blown off, cars explode in giant fireballs, people leap and smash through glass windows, and like always the prize for saving the girl is her vagina. The action, while predictable, is well filmed and well choreographed, though the movie takes itself a bit too seriously at times and thereby becomes a little bit ridiculous. But, who can’t handle a little ridiculous with their bone crushing and bullet holes?
Th
e hardest part of the film, and maybe this is redundant, is the dialogue- but, not in the way you might think. The numerous foreign languages sound like they are delivered with thought and emotion, it’s the English that stinks (except for Thomas who is amazing always). However, you didn’t pick up a movie like Largo Winch to hear syllables; you pick it up to hear BANG, SNAP, and BOOM. Even with all its predictability, I have to say again, the action is pretty cool and the film editing isn’t half bad. If you’re gonna get a mindless action shoot-em-up kick-em-around punch-em-in-the-face film, you could do worse.
As for the DVD and special features- and perhaps maybe others will have better luck: what special features? The chapters are mismarked, making scene skipping worthless and there is no easy way to navigate to the menu. So, if the special features are hidden on there somewhere, maybe you have to be a bad ass hero like Largo to figure them out.
Rating: Stuff blows up and heroes get laid; surprise! But still kinda cool (6/10)
DVD Rating: 3/10
Largo Winch is now available on DVD from Music Box Entertainment
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