Largo Winch 神鬼獵殺

The story is shown through bits and pieces of the past and present. While this technique can sometimes be used to push the plot along or to fill in missing links, in this case it just adds to the confusion. The combination of different languages spoken by the characters and the scenes jumping from one country to another does not make it any easier to follow.

The lead role of Largo Winch is played by German-born Tomer Sisley, who delivers the dialogue comfortably in both English and French.

Largo gives you every reason to believe he is not going to accept the life given to him by his adopted father Nerio Winch (Miki Manojlovic), but at the same time he does pick up the tricks of the trade from the older Winch. It is a typical love-hate relationship you will find between any father and son.

Largo learns the hard way that with money, you have more foes than friends on your plate. He has to sort out friends from foes in order to solidify his hold on his empire as well as solve the mystery of who killed his father. Suspicion is cast on all from Nerio's long-time friend/assistant/bodyguard Freddy (Gilbert Melki), the company's acting chief Ann Ferguson (Kristin Scott Thomas) to the head of security, Stephan Marcus (Steven Waddington).

Other supporting roles are the weak VP Wiliam Kwan (Benedict Wong), arch rival Korsky (Karel Roden), who tries to buy out the Winch group, Largo's foster parents (Hannah-Anne Consigny and Josip) and brother (Goran-Radivoje Bukvic), whom he spent his childhood with, and the temptress Lea Naomi (Mélanie Thierry).

There is not as much violence, or even action, as one would expect from a comic-turned movie. Most of the action takes place in the boardroom, and there is a lot of conversation about financial takeovers and the like. There are times where you simply want to jump to the next scene. It should get a restricted rating though, for the explicit nudity and sex scenes at the beginning of the movie. We do get to see some nice scenery as we cross international borders.

One thing that still has me curious is how Largo is able to survive so many attacks: Perhaps the tattoo of invincibility should take some credit after all.

This French production is based on the first two volumes of a Belgian comic book series written by Jean Van Hamme and illustrated by Philippe Francq. The comics were in turn based on novels by Van Hamme. Fans of the comics or novels should watch the movie, but be prepared: If you don't understand French or don't read Chinese, you will have to guess what the characters are saying on many occasions.

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