The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec

 2010, d. Luc Besson - tubi

The film begins in a pithy French way, with a voice over (never to be heard from after the opening minutes, a pet peeve of mine) calling attention to a lot of peripheral details that seem trivial, and then turn out to be rather trivial individually, but altogether cascade into the larger narrative thrust.  It takes us around Paris in the 1910s, an a man is practicing some sort of spell, which awakens a pterodactyl that he can sort-of control.  But it kills a prominent man of status and a manhunt is on.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, Adèle Blanc-Sec is guided into a pyramid where she's looking for a specific crypt.  She expertly navigates the tomb's various traps and finds the way in.  Her cohorts are obsessed with the riches there but her nemesis is on her trail and nearly has her shot for tomb-robbing.  She adventurously escapes, with the mummy she came for and returns to Paris, where these to storylines actually meet, if not sensibly, then at least in-world logically. 

It's all very broad, and grand high adventure-style.  Indiana Jones is definitely the template for the Egypt scene, and it stacks up well against those.  But it's calling upon other 1930's serials and 40's-style adventures as it goes, merging the mundane with the fantastical, not always together in the greatest marriage, but working more than not.

The cast nails the tone of this.  Everyone is pretty great.  While I think the story was a bit too random at times, I certainly would have like to have seen a series of these.  Louise Bourgoin as Adèle is wonderfully charming.  As a character Adèle is so confident, intelligent, persuasive, fearless, adventurous, proactive, and capable, but she's not a superhero and her efforts are often subject to failure...but she persistent and doesn't quit. Bourgoin adeptly conveys all of this with seeming ease. I also like that she has no romantic entanglement at all in this film.  There are men infatuated with her (naturally) but she has no time for them.  The love story here is between her and he catatonic twin sister.  All her efforts here are in service of saving her sister.  But (my main problem being) at what cost?  Who dies or is maimed (all for comedic effect, yes including a beheading) for the saving of Adèle's sister.

This is a different film for Besson visually.  And the tone is softer, more playful, and yet it feels completely in his wheelhouse, sandwiched between The Fifth Element and Valerian it makes perfect sense.

[Random thoughts]

Feels like a Euro comic , so it's no surprise that it was derived from one by Jacques Tardi. Besson loves his Euro comics. 

Feels like an 80's adventure film... kind of looks like one too...the effects seems intentionally clunky, like Harryhousen stop-motion (even though some, if not all is CGI). 

The prosthetics turn humans into cartoons ala live action Dick Tracy or Popeye but the performances very much play into it.  The prosthetics and wigs and facial hair aren't supposed to look real, they're supposed to look exaggerated, and help solidify the surreal nature of the film.

Seemed like, for a hot minute (or 20), Besson was going for a female Indiana Jones vibe.  Kind of wish it had stuck more to that. 

I have no real issue with the resurrected mummies. Resurrected mummies with telekinesis though, maybe a step too far, at the very least it felt like a lazy way for the animators to have them manipulate things.

The casual nudity seemed very out of place, but perhaps the French aren't so prudish, and casual nudity in what is ostensibly a family film is just fine.

[end of Random Thoughs]

[Update: Toasty reviewed this too... way back in 2011. We agree!]