We’re not sure what happened to Luc Besson, but somewhere along the way the once intriguing director got sidelined into directing forgettable family films and producing boat loads of generic action films like the “Transporter” series, the “Banlieue 13” franchise and even this weekend’s execrable “From Paris With Love.” But it seems the director has been saving the choicest material for himself.
Back in October we reported that he was hard at work on “Les Aventures Extrodinaire d’Adele Blanc-Sec,” the first in a projected trilogy of films based on the nine-volume series by French cartoonist Jaques Tardi. Here’s the plot synopsis from our intital report:
The year is 1912. Adèle Blanc-Sec, an intrepid young reporter, will go to any lengths to achieve her aims, including sailing to Egypt to tackle mummies of all shapes and sizes.
Meanwhile, in Paris, it’s panic stations! A 136 million-year old pterodactyl egg on a shelf in the natural history museum has mysteriously hatched, and the bird subjects the city to a reign of terror from the skies. But nothing fazes Adèle Blanc-Sec, whose adventures reveal many more extraordinary surprises…
Set in the carefree world before World War I, Adèle Blanc-Sec’s adventures see the brave young woman fearlessly battling crooks, corrupt politicians, demon worshippers and mad scientists. Legendary cartoonist Jacques Tardi’s original stories perfectly recreate the intrigue, romance and excitement of one of the most tumultuous periods in history.
Essentially it sounds like a female fronted “Indiana Jones,” and it also seems like a lot of fun. Well, the trailer has landed and as we speculated, it’s a mix of live action and CGI. We have to say, we’re pretty impressed. Visually, it ranks up there with Besson’s best work and the costume design in particular is stunning. The tinted look of the period street scenes remind us of Jean-Pierre Jeunet as well. While we’re usually wary of CGI heavy flicks, this one actually looks like it found the right tone, and most importantly isn’t overwhelmed by fx – but we’ll have to wait and see. The film, which stars Louise Borguin, Gilles Lellouche and Mathieu Amalric, opens in France on April 14, 2010. As far as we know there is no North American distribution yet in place, but we hope that changes soon.
Many thanks to “tommy” for the heads up and click here to see the trailer. The embed seems to be borked for now.