Customer Reviews

Chrysalis

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This had received very little press in the US distribution market so I was intrigued to see how a French scifi/near future film might fare. And by the time the end credits rolled (to some nice rock/classical themes), I was impressed and surprised this had not reached a larger market.

A futuristic tale of US and Euro security groups working together to confiscate a memory manipulation device before it falls into the wrong hands. The story is told through two undetermined groups of people that have mysterious backgrounds and unknown motives, one in the Paris law enforcement and the other in an unnamed medical facility (reminiscent of a THX1138 kind of color scheme and feel). There is plenty of suspense, competent gun play, well choreographed hand-to-hand fighting, slo-mo camera work, good music, awesome 3D holographic imaging, intrigue as to what is really happening, plot twists and memory loss to go around.

I thought the cast acted quite well, and for the amount of material covered in this piece, played adequately against what could have been a much longer film (and I would not have complained as there are several aspects that could have used more screen time). You will recognize some faces from other more known films like Babylon AD, Irreversible and Carnivale, but I felt the ensemble here was well put together.

The quality of the DVD came across nicely (from a BD to a large plasma) and the sound was mixed best when the music would play in the slo-mo sequences. The DVD docu is 25 minutes long, competently put together and covers all aspects of the production with this relatively unknown director.

Overall, a great film on a solid DVD with good special effects and futuristic visions. Wish this could have gotten a larger release.

A sleek and sophisticated Science Fiction film with a wonderful mix of style, brains, and action-adventure.

This is a French film with subtitles but will appeal to any American fan of intelligent Science Fiction or action movies.

In a near-future Paris, a film-noir-style detective looks for vengance on the man who killed his partner and ends up finding something much more interesting. To reveal more would be to ruin the fun, but I will say that fans of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse TV show may guess part of what is coming.

The story is as intelligent as the best Cinema Science Fiction and engages the mind as well as the nerve endings.

The special effects are classy and stylish and original.

But the coolest thing about this movie are the scenes of hand-to-hand combat. It is bone-crunchingly powerful. Most kung-fu action scenes are as much a dance as anything, with two (or more) smallish guys doing creative moves. This movie shows real, strong, adult, MEN, pounding on one another, trying to kill each other with martial arts. AWESOME!

If you enjoy being the first on your block to see great cinema, or
If you enjoy intelligent Sci-Fi, or
If you love good action films.

SEE THIS MOVIE. THE PRICE ON AMAZON IS VERY INEXPENSIVE COMPARED TO MANY FAR WORSE FILMS.

(1.) I actually was hoping this would be a memorable sci-fi movie based on the cover and the name and trusting the competence of one or two unknown viewers. But as indicated by the following thoughts - I was duped.
(2.) The idea of erasing a person's memory and transferring someone else's memories by flashing images through the eyes has been used several times as a far back as 50's sci-fi. An idea from a sci-fi preliterate period now known to have zero scientific basis and credibility.
(3.) The extent of the sci-fi element in this movie is holding a person still in a chair while a cheap plastic halo flashes images into the subject's eyes. That's it! they never really even show you the process except on a tiny little monitor showing a couple of fuzzy images. That's all the futuristic sci-fi there is. Well, there were some cheap plastic freezer curtains - like you walk through when you're walking into a grocery store cooler. Oh, and they put some plastic fenders on a car to make it look more futuristic.
(4.) The action parts of the film are a couple of fakey martial arts that would leave Asian film producers hilariously rolling on the floor. Most culminated, for some reason, with a few shots from a plain old pistol.
(5.) Worst of all, for all you non-French speaking viewers (and I speak French), is that the English subtitles and audio English language translations do not match each other nor do they match the original French dialogue (and French is an easy language to translate into English). Even the people chosen for voiceovers were disturbingly out of character.

This is a good movie. More three and a half stars as opposed to the three I gave it but the French don't have a big history in science fiction film making. And, as good as this is, it could have been near great.

Here's the scoop. A cop's pregnant wife/partner gets killed while pursuing a serial killer. A female doctor's daughter gets maimed in a car accident and mom works on getting her put back together and her beauty restored. The two stories are somehow related and therein lies the movie.

I liked this movie. It kept me guessing as to how all this would pan out, which is a good thing. There were some very interesting twists in the plot that were fresh. The production design was generally very good. It used a blue/grey color palette similar to 'Equilibrium.' The acting was good. The directing was good. It had some very good hand to hand fight scenes.

The problem for me was in the resolution. As things began to come together in the third act, and I saw what was happening, I felt it was too light on the climax. Given what was happening, this should have had a huge emotional impact, and it didn't quite get to that level. Hollywood takes a lot of heat (justifiably so) for re-making movies that were already great in other countries. This could use Hollywood's touch. They have a huge history with science fiction and have gotten a lot better at getting the human element into those movies.

Do not get me wrong. If you're at all a fan of the genre this is well worth the time to view it. It's just a bit shy on the tail end.

It seems in the not to distant future there won't be much lighting so everything will appear to be made of stainless steel. The movie combines a Dirty Harry wannabe with the eye clamps of Clockwork Orange and the Neural Neutralizer from Star Trek. The story runs for a long time with a plot and subplot that seem very disconnected, annoyingly so, but hey they are French. I was confused by one translation which went something like "I was summoned to the investigation, tomorrow." Apparently they used some type of word for word translation. The main character was written rather poorly. He was the tough cop we had to identify with, but instead he got kick around a lot, had many character flaws, and was not likable. The plot took priority over any kind of significant character development to the point it took away from the movie (not as bad as 2001). I won't say a word about the plot, as it is in part a mystery, and to say anything would spoil it. The movie is original and worth a peek.

There were alot of unique thoughts portrayed in this movie I would give alot of credit to the film crew and whoever directed the ideas for the filming i guess my turn off with this movie was the pulling teeth process of the 2nd half of the movie there werent any fillers just long unnessary scenes that draged on its worth renting and watching again a few years later on cable tv but not worth adding to your collection just my opion though.

A set of seemingly unconnected events in Paris in the near future gradually coalesce in this taut, French thriller. As we follow each strand the puzzle is eventually solved yet is unsurprising in it's conclusion.

Although set in the future this could almost have been a film about the sixties where architecture was built on a large impersonal scale. The filmaker emphasises striking buildings with novel designs but which dwarf the humans who chase around like ants.

There is action aplenty as well as drama and suspense. Our central characters are opaque and brooding with little clue as to their individual personality. In a sense they are dehumanized proles operating amidst a backdrop of big government and corporations.

There is much food for thought here, for example how weapons can have peaceful applications and how good intentions pave the road to hell. Moral dilemmas abound too as the viewer is forced to confront their own views, opinions and beliefs in their efforts to come to terms with the central messages of the movie. There are special effects too, with the touchscreen applications being a particularly good glimpse into widespread use of that particular feature.

I found this film to be worth watching and for me, more importantly for generating considerable discussions about the content and their implications afterward.

The fight choreography is that of the Bourne Films so hearing that I decided to take a chance. The story takes place in the future and a Cop pursues those responsible for killing his Wife. The fight scenes are excellent and the acting was very good. ALL in all worth your time. Keep in mind this film is in French! Would hate you to order it and then find out.

The negative reviews are not wrong. This is flawed production, not least because the central idea of the story has been more or less been done to death, and done to death better--by the likes of Philip K. Dick, and more recently, Joss Whedon with "The Dollhouse." But moldy conceit aside, there is at least one good reason to give this movie a chance (if not by purchase, by rental), and that's there are some pretty amazing tracking shots. OK, OK, maybe I'm the only film buff on the planet with a tracking shot fetish, but if you ask me what the only things I liked about "Children of Men" or "Atonement" were, I would say the amazing tracking shots. In the history of amazing tracking shots (and I'm not counting Hitchcock's "Rope" here because film shot in two rooms doesn't really have to track in any impressive way), "Chrysalis" takes third place.

Lest it sound I ONLY care about tracking shots, let me add that usually if a director and crew can pull off such a long and complex feat competently, this gestures toward an overall technical competence, and this is certainly true of "Chrysalis." The camerawork, most of the production values, the sound and so forth were so good, one wishes there were a more interesting and innovative story behind it all. It left me with a feeling similar to what I had after seeing "Day Watch," the Russian fantasy movie. That is one impressive piece of movie-making with some stunning special effects. And for the life of me I can't remember, or bring myself to care, what it was about.

This movie stinks! I was going into this expecting to see something very original and rewarding, but what I got was a dud...a BIG FAT DUD! I yawned so much my eyes were watering and my jaw was aching! Everything I have to say about this piece of crap was already stated by the first 1-star reviewer. Please see all the good points as to why this movie is a stinker in that review!
'Nuff said!
Granny's Star Factor: 1[..] Star *