Ad Vitam

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Ajeesh V This was labeled as an action movie, but it’s surprisingly slow, filled with numerous flashback scenes — a few work well, but most feel unnecessary. For an action film, it has very little real action. Overall, a passable and forgettable watch. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/28/25 Full Review Khaliel P The film is made up of 60% flashback—painfully slow and of questionable usefulness (since it adds absolutely nothing to the story; if the goal was to give background on what happened in the first 15 minutes, it completely fails)—and the remaining 40% consists of scenes that severely lack action, despite what the trailer led you to believe. On top of that, the director clearly lacks skill, constantly shaking the camera “for style,” even though it’s always at the wrong moments. The soundtrack is genuinely awful, and Guillaume Canet should really stop trying to play action heroes—he’s just not cut out for it. All in all, a forgettable film. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 06/22/25 Full Review Matthew D Surprisingly cool stunts in the beginning and end, but the middle flashback feels interminable. I thought Ad Vitam would be worse considering it’s an actioner movie on Netflix, but it’s alright. Director Rodolphe Lauga’s French action thriller Ad Vitam (2025) on Netflix is fairly average. Lauga tries a few interesting things visually as a director to make Ad Vitam engaging. I loved the opening sequence scaling the church with the ropes and the scary fall freaked me out. Cafer Ilhan’s neat lighting is quite absorbing immediately in the opening night scene, then continues throughout like the icy blue lighting in the home. The home invasion scene is pretty frightening right off the bat. I didn’t care for the extended flashbacks in the middle that interrupt the flow of the action. However, the resulting search for the hero’s wife is alright. Writers Rodolphe Lauga and Guillaume Canet’s story of a former agent’s wife getting kidnapped, so he hunts down her attackers is generic, but sets up for some cool stunts. I am surprised that so much of the movie is a flashback to the hero’s past in special forces. As far as Ad Vitam’s visuals go, there’s some nice scenic views of Paris’ cityscape, pools, streets, and landmarks captured by the pretty wide shots. The medium and close-up shots are engaging, but the shaky camera choices didn’t make me feel immersed enough. The shaking movements ruined the decently gritty and realistic fight scenes. Climbing on the rooftops is super cool. There’s some exciting chase scenes with wild angles that are striking. Maud Spriet’s art director looks nice and grounded. The stunt team is excellent at close quarters combat and does some cool things for the chases. That opening fall on the climbing rope is terrifying. There’s a lot more parkour, kickboxing, grappling and a variety of stunts than I was expecting. Guillaume Canet is likable enough as the former special forces agent and action hero Franck Lazareff with his vicious fights, stern manner, daring stunts, and raw emotions. When he’s expressive, he’s quite good, but he can be too stoic at times. Stéphane Caillard is good as Franck’s pregnant wife Léo, who is skeptical of his excuses and suspicious behavior in the present. Her past scenes in the special forces with him are far more engaging to me. Nassim Lyes is pretty engaging and intriguing as the recruit Ben. Zita Hanrot is okay as Manon too. Everyone else is pretty bad and forgettable. I should mention that I did enjoy the pretty film score. Overall, Ad Vitam is a fine watch for 97 minutes with plenty of stunts scattered across an intense story. I wish the middle story was more streamlined to perhaps show us the past first, then just get to the more exciting chase afterwards. Breaking up the story as it is was jarring. It’s not groundbreaking, but I had a good time with Ad Vitam. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/27/25 Full Review J D This is totally crap!!! Unless you want to be misled by 5min of actions but dragged into meaningless and extremely boring not-even-romantic-nor-police-like 70min VIDEO, then this is the movie for you... even the last 10min of actions are boring, empty and dumb... I never learn... Netflix has been making crappy movies continuously... but I still watched because my partner insisted, I never learn...!!!!!!!!!(ANGER) Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/19/25 Full Review Juju S Franchement pas terrible... Sympa de voir ce genre de film en France, mais ça ne vaut pas vraiment les bons films d'action... Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/17/25 Full Review Jose p It's a good movie, honestly. I love stories where the main character does everything to get his girl, and I love the tension in the last act. Even though you know what's going to happen, you still get excited. It's a little slow, but it gets better in the end. Watch it when you actually have some free time. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/06/25 Full Review Read all reviews

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