Largo Winch II (2011)

Absolutely Brilliant!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

But not by that much. Actually the main actor does help a lot and the vote could have been lower without him. Sharon Stone on the other hand, seems almost completely misplaced. I'm not sure if they had American backing or if the director/producer or whoever was a fan of hers, but she almost put me off the movie. And I quite like her in other movies, but this one ...With that being said, we get more of Largo and his back-story. While I'm not familiar with the source material (haven't read anything, only watched the first movie), it seems like there is a rich story behind the character. I'm not sure if there will be another installment into the series (could go even further back I guess), but I do know that Largo made an impression on me overall. Good action-thriller that delivers what it needs to

Without doubt this sequel represents a continuation of the programme of careful quality-control instituted by the first installment which ,for once,was a successful comic- transferred -to -the- screen. The first movie was (almost) faithful to the cartoon books ,- almost" because one of the main characters was absent-the second is an original screenplay although snatches of stories appear now and then ("L'heure Du Tigre").People were waiting for Sharon Stone who was given a conventional part ,a character you've seen a hundred times or more;she is completely out-shadowed by the Asian actress as Largo's lover,who brilliantly makes her character moving and endearing and all her scenes count .Like the first opus,the screenplay blends present and past (but this time not a distant past :three years,which means that the events of the past depicted by the movie happened before the story in the present tense of the first story....A first story which disappointed some viewers a bit, cause Simon 's best friend (his captain Haddock in a way) was completely absent although his part was essential in the comic albums ;with hindsight ,it was not perhaps a bad idea;because ,if Simon appears in this episode ,it's a fiasco.THe actor has no screen presence at all.Unlike Tomer Sisley,who has intellect and dynamism going for him ,Olivier Barthelemy has none:a listless character,devoid of the sense of humor the original Simon had.He is so insignificant that the story could easily do without him:even Nicolas Vaude,who is everything but an exciting actor ,shows more qualities than he does.SPOILERS The best of this sophomore effort is the love interest:the scenes between Malunaî,Largo, and their child possess a warmth,an emotion which is rare in those action-packed adventures ;the boy crying after his mother's death is harrowing¨;and the story ends in a smart way:Largo and little Largo in the precedent episode ,Largo and his child in the second one;and finally it's that child who makes it all worthwhile,who gives a rather trite tale substance.And last but no least ,if Olivier Barthelemy 's performance hits rock bottom,"LARGO II" can boast the presence of one of the greatest French actors of all time;it was to be his last role,for he passed away several months after .Laurent Terzieff belongs to the Delon/Belmondo generation ,and IMHO ,he was better and much more ambitious than both of them.To write that Ce Monsieur steals every scene he is in is to diminish him,for his cadaverous face and his feverish eyes literally mesmerizes you,he gave it all perhaps because he felt it was his last time.If it were only for Terzieff and the scenes of Largo's "family" ,then I can say that,in spite of obvious flaws,I did not waste my time.NB During the final cast and credits,Cat Stevens ' "father and son" is heard,sadly in a so so cover version.

Well...what can I say? This movie is so disjointed, and so silly, it's hardly even worth a review. But since there are so few reviews, maybe this will help others avoid the near total waste of time that is "The Burma Conspiracy".However, having said that, this movie is not without its moments of suspense. The problem is...when it's over, one feels completely empty.The plot is complicated, which, in and of itself is fine. However, in an attempt to try to tie it all together, it's the same kind of feeling you get after watching an entire movie only to be told at the end that it's all been a dream. That particular ploy is not used here, but the net result feels the same. Only in this case, it's more of a nightmare. There are clearly better ways to spend 2 hours.Rating: 4/10

I have seen Largo Winch 1 three times, because I was taken in by the way the story has been told. Somewhat different to the way Hollywood tells a story. I looked forward for more of this kind and expected something similar with Largo Winch 2. Boy was I wrong. Whilst the first installment was fresh and had new ideas this sequel had nothing new to it. To the contrary, it just followed mainstream and Zeitgeit. Which is perhaps annoying, but bearable, especially, when your in the same mindset. But more serious is when the acting is bad, the dialogs sound wrong and the story simply is bad. And that is here the case. I can not recommend this to anybody.