In 2020, Netflix released “Lost Bullet,” the first in what is currently a solid trilogy of French cop thrillers built around a series of dynamically choreographed action and car stunts. Who knows, maybe they’ll lose more bullets. A third sequel wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, provided that they stick with the same filmmakers and stunt guys.
Then again, “Last Bullet” puts a decisive capper on the previous movies’ action-intensive gearhead-cop saga, though it’s hard to say how much closure one might need from these characters. They’re charming enough thanks to a committed ensemble cast, but nothing about the movie’s by-the-numbers narcotics cops vs. dirty cops story demands further extension.
Apart from some impressive stuntwork, a good part of what made the first “Lost Bullet” so charming was its refreshingly straightforward genre storytelling. Flinty (and occasionally cheeky) dialogue, archetypically pulpy stock characters, and some thrilling plot twists set a high bar for everything that’s followed. Netflix has released a few bracing French cop action thrillers since 2020, including “AKA” (2023), which also stars “Lost Bullet” leading man Alban Lenoir, and “Squad 36” from this year. None of these trend-chasers are as thrilling as that first “Lost Bullet”, though “Last Bullet” gets close enough.
“Last Bullet” starts where “Lost Bullet 2” leaves off, following the fugitive ex-cop Areski (Nicolas Duvauchelle) to Germany, where he now runs drugs for a German crime boss under an assumed name. Areski’s past catches up with almost as soon as “Last Bullet 3” begins though, sending him back to France around the same time as a prisoner exchange between the Spanish police and the corrupt French Narcotics department chief Alexander Resz (Gérard Lanvin) puts good cop Lino (Lenoir) back on Resz’s tail.
Resz wants to tie up loose ends before getting a big promotion, which puts him and his comically powerful criminal organization at odds with Lino and Areski. Lino does not, however, want to team up with Areski since that guy previously killed Lino’s mentor Charas (Ramzy Bedia). Areski and Lino race around like they have something to prove, but their righteous causes and personal grievances are rarely as compelling as the superhuman lengths they go to to catch up with each other. Without spoiling anything not in the movie’s trailer, I’ll just say that a showdown between a helicopter and a fortified tow truck is about as fun as that sounds.
Areski’s establishing scenes are also propulsive and in a way that makes it very easy to understand why he’s Lino’s main rival. Areski’s not overburdened with a psychologically suggestive backstory. However, we are reminded that he’s abandoned one partner, Stella (Anne Serra), and must now run out on another one, Mathilde (Julia Engelbrecht), to escape from Resz and his imposing lackey Yuri (Quentin D’Hainaut). If there must be a “Lost Bullet 4,” I hope it features a new story built around Duvauchelle’s charismatic antihero.
That said, the best action scenes in “Last Bullet” confirm what the last two movies’ suggested: the French understand the high value of watching various motor vehicles flip, crash, or otherwise wipe out. A decent-sized car chase that sics Lino on Areski gives the filmmakers a nice showcase since it captures the small but decisive gear shifts that the scene takes as Lino and Areski struggle to outmaneuver each other.
A three-way brawl on a public bus also reveals the limits to the filmmakers’ otherwise polished action filmmaking. The handheld camerawork in this scene barely keeps pace with the stuntmen, who put on a good show anyway. The car stunts are much more dynamic, coherent, and distinct since the camera necessarily captures more of the stunt vehicles in any given fetish-ready close-up.
Moreover, the comic book simplicity of this movie’s plotting complements its action scenes, given the filmmakers’ focus on keeping the story moving forward. There are admittedly a couple of momentum-stalling scenes involving Resz and his accomplices, as well as Inspector Moss (Pascale Arbillot), who’s leading the investigation into Resz’s criminal activities. Thankfully, even the slowest scenes don’t keep “Last Bullet” from flying from one adrenalized showdown to the next.
The fact that there hasn’t been a glut of “Lost Bullet”-quality follow-ups suggests that this type of movie may, in fact, be harder to pull off than you might think. “Last Bullet” does have the key advantage of being made by filmmakers who have already worked together on this exact type of movie and are blessedly unburdened by the need to try to make this latest sequel all things to all viewers. They play the hits with joyful confidence and nail almost every note they remember to play. Something new from these guys would be great, but more of the same would likely hit the spot.
