Ad Vitam

Rodolphe Lauga delivers a top-notch action movie that stands out in the genre. What makes French films so appealing compared to Hollywood blockbusters is their focus on realistic scripts, grounded action, and authentic characters, which result in true emotional depth and drama. These are the kinds of action films you want to watch because, unlike Marvel movies, you're not stuck watching the same superheroes in endless, exaggerated battles. In this film, the people, the situations, the locations, and the thrilling chases all feel incredibly lifelike, pulling you into the story and making you feel like you're right there with the characters. It's a refreshing change from the typical formulaic films where you're just watching the same A-list stars in the same predictable shootouts. This is an action movie with real substance-a film that no John Wick can quite match.

A parade of the usual tropes - cops as one big, happy family, the lonely Arab kid who cannot find friends, Semper Fi, the usual stuff, mixed with some betrayals and high stakes political treachery. But you get a chase involving parachutes and helicopters, plus fatally wounded pregnant woman arriving last minute to the hospital, so at least that's that. In the end, in a (cough-cough) unexpected plot twist, the befuddled viewer finds out the heroic to-be-shot wife submitted all the critical evidence to the authorities in time, so all the chases and shootouts were in fact a waste of time and taxpayer money, but the movie does not give us the time to think about such details. In the end, the evil CIA guy is exposed, everybody not shot in the first half survives, and family values triumph. Instantly forgettable and spectacularly bland.

I found Ad Vitam an enjoyable watch with some good action scenes. Few movies are perfect are they? The retrospective scenes were maybe a little overdone but served to give a better picture of the main characters and did make me interested in them. Many action shows have too many shallow characters that never get hurt yet we are expected to care about them in order to create some tension and suspend disbelief. Ad Vitam did not do that although you do have to suspend disbeluef a bit at the climactic action scene. All in all , a good effort and I liked the actors and the general storyline worked well.

First movie of 2025...and it's a bit of a dud.

Firstly, a positive. There's some pretty cool action scenes here. I'm not familiar with French cinema but the main actor Guillaume Canet was great and really sold me on his tough guy persona. He really was the emotional core of the story, aside from just being an outright badass. The dude does everything : parkour, driving, martial arts....you name it!

However, "Ad Vitam" really struggled to hold my attention throughout its short run time, and just comes across as a cheaper and inferior version of the "Mission Impossible" series. The story didn't grip me at all. The majority of the film is one big flashback that doesn't even get to the main plot introduced at the start of the film until just over an hour in. For an action film, it's incredibly slow and plodding, and doesn't seem to have any momentum or pace until it suddenly ramps up in the last 30 minutes. It feels like a solid 40 minute pilot episode of a TV series stretched out to 95 minutes to be considered feature length.

Overall, it's not a film I'd recommend. It's typical of what you'd expect from a January Netflix film I guess!

Ad Vitam was for me and my wife a great ride hell.

The story took me on an emotional level mixed with suspense and lot of combat scenes.

It was interesting to watch inside the private life of the special forces GIGN of the French Gendarmes.

If you are looking for a fast paced movie with lot of action then this one will entertain you no doubt.

Netflix presented again another blockbuster that run already on number one of the international charts. Both leading actors Canet and Cortaillod delivered respectable top performance. Finally the director succeeded in making a good show time.

Congratulations to all the staff. It merita for this high value of entertainment a solid 7/10.

If you liked it see Sous la Seine.