Le Dernier Combat

Technically impressive yet entirely uninvolving, Le Dernier Combat follows an unnamed (and mute) central character (Pierre Jolivet) as he encounters a whole host of helpful (and unhelpful) individuals as he makes his way through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Filmmaker Luc Besson admittedly does a fantastic job of establishing this ravaged landscape and it’s clear, too, that Carlo Varini’s black-and-white cinematography remains an ongoing highlight, but there’s little doubt that the movie, right from the get-go, boasts painfully few elements designed to capture and sustain the viewer’s ongoing interest. Le Dernier Combat‘s main conceit, that humanity has been rendered mute by an unknown event, certainly plays a key role in quickly transforming the picture into an interminable experience, as there’s never a point at which Jolivet’s protagonist manages to become a wholeheartedly (or even partially) sympathetic or interesting heroic figure. It’s consequently not surprising to note that Le Dernier Combat grows less and less compelling as it progresses, while the climactic, action-heavy third act, which couldn’t possibly be more underwhelming, ensures that the whole thing ends on as forgettable and lackluster a note as one could envision – with the final result an admirably experimental endeavor that might’ve worked well as a 10 minute short but has no business running a full hour and a half.

* out of ****