Film Review – Sentinelle

Two years ago, I had a positive reaction to “The Bouncer,” which offered a rare dramatic outing for star Jean-Claude Van Damme, who uncovered a bit more acting range with help from co-writer/director Julien Leclercq. The helmer has remained close to thriller entertainment over the course of his career, but he’s finding ways to cut through the steely norm and deal with the inner pain of his antiheroes. The formula returns with “Sentinelle,” which pairs Leclercg with star Olga Kurylenko, who also has a fondness for more aggressive screen activity (seen recently slapping around villains in “The Courier”). The collaboration brings some feeling to “Sentinelle,” which is refreshingly simplistic in plot, instead concentrating on the rotting core of the main character as she struggles to find one form of justice for a wounded loved one. It’s revenge cinema pulled off with ferocity, giving Kurylenko something to work with as Leclercq arranges riveting escalation, delivering a brutalizer with some deep-seated pain to examine. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com