Netflix AKA review: Budding action star Alban Lenoir excels again

Netflix has provided action lovers with a number of excellent French programs over the last couple years. Athena was one of the best movies of 2022, Julien Leclercq’s Sentinelle This is an excellent dark thriller starring Olga Kurylenko. Ganglands It was also based upon a movie. BraquersThey are great crime stories, and Lost Bullet When it comes to vehicular explosions, the sequel of Fast and Furious has a lot more than its predecessor.

It is not surprising that the latest addition to this growing industry is AKAAlban Lenoir stars as Adam Franco in a Netflix original series. He is a skilled Special-Ops agent who faces one of the most challenging assignments of his career. Franco works undercover as part of the security team for an infamous crime lord, played by the infamous soccer star Eric Cantona. Cantona was suspended from football after he kicked a fan. Franco makes a big impression after quickly rendering the head of security unconscious after a verbal spat, and he becomes the bodyguard for the crime lord’s bullied son, teaching the child how to fight and defend himself.

Alban Lenoir kneels down to a child’s eye level as they practice on a child’s boxing dummy in AKA.

It’s pretty much “Man on Fire lite” — another movie that seems inspired by Philip Nicholson’s 1980 novel Man on Fire. AKA isn’t an official adaptation of the book, like Élie Chouraqui’s 1987 French movie version or Tony Scott’s stylized 2004 thriller. But it has a lot in common with them: It’s a dark crime story about a grizzled operative bonding with a child, and the lengths that operative will go when the child is in danger. While it lacks Scott’s directorial flair, AKA Alban Lenoir is a rare movie: it has a unique story.

Lenoir started his career as a stunt performer, working on a variety of French productions and on Pierre Morel’s 2008 game-changer Taken. After a series of small parts, he got his big break in 2015’s French Blood, which screened at TIFF and saw Lenoir nominated for a Lumières Award for Most Promising New Actor.

After a few years, there came Lost BulletLenoir is Lino – a mechanic who has been framed for murder by crooked police officers. In order to prove his innocence, he has to find the last remaining piece of evidence from the crime — a single lost bullet.

Alban Lenoir makes a fist with his hand on an open car door in Lost Bullet 2 — Lenoir, Lino as Lost Bullet 2

Lost Bullet The following are some examples of how to get started: Lost Bullet 2 The best action movies in recent years have used simple narratives and elaborate kinetic scenes to build their sets. The fistfights are brutal, the car chases are electric (sometimes literally), and it’s a turbo-charged action series reminiscent of the early Fast and Furious movies.

But Lenoir is the secret sauce to these movie’s recipes. He always brings a calm, intense, grounded energy to his roles, with a face that screams, “This guy has been in a lot of fights.” Lenoir moves like an athlete and hits like a truck, and while he plays highly capable characters skilled in violence, he imbues them with an Everyman energy. The characters in his films are beaten up a lot and often worn out by their grueling battles. The following are some of the most important things to remember. AKA, there’s a funny scene where Adam simply wants to take a nap, but keeps getting interrupted by notifications and instructions from his handler (who he communicates with through PlayStation voice chat, gamers).

Alban Lenoir walks through a long hallway while holding an assault rifle in AKA.

Alban Lenoir pushes a man down into a table filled with chemistry equipment in AKA.

Lenoir, who is also a screenwriter, co-wrote both Lost Bullet films. AKA. AKA This film sees him working with Morgan S. Dalibert again, who was the cinematographer for the Lost Bullet movies. (The two also previously worked together on 2005’s New World, Dalibert’s directorial debut.) Some of the most memorable action scenes are in AKAThe CCTV footage of a brawl outside a nightclub and an intense fight in a drugs den is particularly impressive. Dalibert also repeatedly frames action at the back of long, narrow shots, adding depth to some of the sequences, and he takes delight in telegraphing objects that will be used in a fight — lingering on a hook on a wall to get viewers excited about how it will be brutally deployed.

AKA’s overarching narrative never really gels — there’s a vast conspiracy theory floating around the edges of the movie, but it isn’t given enough time to really come into focus. The movie’s pace also slows as it stops to give some characters more specific backstories, which is a shame, because the actors were already filling in a lot of those gaps through their performances. Thankfully, Lenoir’s unique presence helps elevate the movie to solid streaming fare.

AKA It is best when Alban Lenoir’s Action Star takes center stage, not the film itself. Man on Fire. It’s still worth watching if you’re interested in the new wave of French action cinema, and one of its most intriguing stars. But if you haven’t seen the Lost Bullet movies yet, definitely prioritize those for excellent Lenoir action.

AKANetflix has the latest episodes available.

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