When it comes to action, French films definitely know how to deliver. Movies such as Sleepless Night, District 13, and others have made their mark on the genre while finding ways to get inventive with old cliches.
Netflix’s latest title Lost Bullet (Balle perdue) attempts the same thing and takes it a step further, trying to give it an automotive tune-up.
And since the next Fast and Furious film F9 is delayed for almost an entire year, what better time for a movie involving crooked cops and fast cars, right?
Is it worthy of being considered a must-see thriller on Netflix? Here is our full review of Netflix’s action/thriller movie, Lost Bullet.
Lost Bullet on Netflix: Should you watch?
The film centers around Lino (Alban Lenoir), a criminal and expert car mechanic who is pulled from imprisonment to help work on police vehicles for a task force called “Go Fast.”
This is unfortunately not a joke. It is the actual name of the task force.
Once he works on this for a period of time, he is offered a full pardon for all the help he has done as a mechanic in making the cars indestructible.
Problem is, soon after, he is framed for someone’s murder. The only way to get his reputation back is to locate the vehicle where the murder took place.
If he finds the bullet at the crime scene, which is the car, he can win back his freedom.
The film is directed by Guillaume Pierret. Looking at his previous work, this seems to be his first major feature.
Because of this, there’s a level of grace when discussing films from first-timers taking on a bigger budget, which this one appears to have.
Some of the film absolutely misfires, but some of it also shows a lot of promise — especially towards the last 30 minutes of the movie. That said, it’s a bumpy road getting there.
It’s clear Pierret was ambitious with his first project, but the limitations were noticeable.
The main character Lino gets a rushed introduction, and besides crashing through a few walls with his armored car, it’s not clear why they require his mechanic skills or why they cannot find someone else to do it.
If the production was given more money, they probably would be able to show off Lino’s ability to make indestructible vehicles more with longer scenes of mayhem, but instead, it’s a brief intro that leaves us wanting more.
There are some distractingly bad moments of physics as well, including a scene where a driver crashes a car in reverse, and somehow the man sitting firmly in the backseat flies through the back window.
It’s not a deal-breaker moment, but it’s a sequence one might rewatch a few times trying to understand how it happened.
With general audiences, cheesiness and unrealistic physics might add a level of charm to their viewing experience.
Rushed character development and bad physics aside, the film has a lot going for it. The supporting cast is actually really good in Lost Bullet.
Charas (Ramzy Bedia) — the man in charge of the “Go Fast” task force — is probably the best character of the film outside of the main character and really sells the father-figure role to Lino.
Most viewers will also be talking a lot about Stéfi Celma, who plays Julia. She has some of the best moments of showing off physical action that would make most MMA fighters tap out from watching.
Then there’s the climax of Lost Bullet, which has to be commended for not shying away from practicality. Vehicles get flipped, torn, used as weapons, and then some on such a modest budget.
It’s the kind of finale that might bring back memories of playing the video game Twisted Metal and have fans begging this guy to adapt the property.
And this is also one of the frustrating aspects of Lost Bullet. The film shows us how far they could have pushed the entire movie despite its first full-length feature constraints.
Inside Lost Bullet, is a movie that wants to be a film that pushes the edge with vehicle chases and mayhem with weaponized cars. But it has to focus on smaller character moments that often feel out of place from the movie he actually wanted to make.
Overall Thoughts
Lost Bullet will not shatter the genre of action thrillers or chase flicks. It does show potential from director Guillaume Pierret and his ability to orchestrate and frame practical action sequences involving cars.
If viewers can handle a few bumps in the road, the finale has a lot of impressive moments worth sticking around for. It just takes a while to get to the juicy finish Lost Bullet has to offer, and some may not care for the first portion of the film.
All this said, for viewers who are looking to turn their minds off for a couple of hours, Lost Bullet will provide the medicine.
Lost Bullet is now streaming on Netflix.