It is becoming quite clear that French cinema is settling comfortably into aping the style of Hollywood blockbusters from about 25 years ago, and through this trying to eclipse the rotting corpse of Hollywood at their own game. As with so many past movie trends, this one started with a legitimately great move, Tell No One (2006,) that just happened to make use of certain elements of technique that had been cast aside by Hollywood filmmakers. And like past movie trends, what followed tended to emphasize Tell No One’s superficial features, rather than the features which made it great in the first place – its fabulous story, pacing, and the way its soundtrack was used in the film.

The thing is, the French are nevertheless succeeding – they are currently beating Hollywood at their own game, and beating them pretty badly in my opinion. When I think about the pure shit Hollywood is churning out now, movies so terrible I can’t even get excited about ripping them to pieces here on Irreviews, I find myself enjoying this new French movement more and more.

The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch is a perfect example. It is far from a great movie. It feels a little like an exciting modern TV show –  think Ashley Judd’s Missing, compressed down to 100 minutes. But I can’t remember the last big-budget Hollywood action blockbuster that was anywhere near as fun and engaging as Largo Winch. Yes, the story is compressed, but at least it has a fairly coherent and interesting story, one that remains interesting all the way through. As was common in Hollywood action blockbusters of 25 years ago, it pays just enough attention to dialog and character development to give the illusion of texture, and it features a warm, likable and unambiguously good hero. It features a relatively low-tech, retro approach to action sequences, and piles them on with abandon, freely ripping off great movies of the past (specifically: all the Bourne movies.) And instead of the grey and depressing postmodern storylines of today, Largo Winch revives the formerly popular narrative of the handsome, good natured hero who with a little help triumphs over adversity, a story-form which has tapped deep elements of the human psyche since antiquity.

The fact is, the above formula is good solid entertainment that doesn’t numb you or drag you down. It’s more than diverting – it’s just plain fun. It’s what Hollywood used to churn out, and there is a definite place for it, a need to be filled. The French have sized up the situation and are targeting their product to fill this exact void, and they are doing the same with other abandoned Hollywood devices (e.g. Rust & Bone, The Intouchables.) I would be happier if their aim was a little higher than this, but I must admit that any competently executed new movie is very welcome at this point.

If you are looking sadly at this spring’s crop of movies, and wishing there would be just one decently written action film, I recommend you Netflix The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch. If you are skeptical, think about it this way: how could it possibly be worse than what you currently have to pick from?