REVIEW: Lukas/The Bouncer (2018)

I went to see Lukas tonight, It’s been a while (almost 17 years) since the days movies starring JCVD were released in cinema on a regular basis, with the exception of EXP2 and JCVD. No one was under
the age of 35 in the screening room,nobody fucking checked his smartphone, not even once.
A relief…

Lukas is not your classic action movie with high body count, it felt more like a neo noir movie to
me, JCVD is very good, he’s a broken man with a broken face, a tragic past and struggling in his
life.  A man of few words.Not an anti hero,a good guy.  On a side note, french viewers will be happy because JC uses his real voice in this one.

He works as a bouncer in a night club and raises his daughter alone,he can barely pay the bill
for her private school.But more shit happens when a customer of the club dies and Lukas is taken
responsible,and the fucktard who died is the son of a European Union official (this is one of the
few ,very subtle politically incorrect details in the flick) Lukas finds a similar job in a streepclub but has to work for the cops now, who want to arrest his new boss and can help him avoid problems related to the rich prick’s death.

I will not tell you more about the story wich is better if not spoiled.The movie works, you get into it and care for the character, there are few long take scenes where you follow Lukas and it’s efficient, combined with the gritty urban belgium setting and the dark score.  The atmosphere is the strongest point of the movie.

The other actors are convincing but the movie really focuses on JCVD. Not much bullets are fired, not much punches are thrown but when it happens you can feel it, the sound design of the guns is loud which is very enjoyable.  There is some Max Payne vibe in this.  I’m talking about the excellent video game franchise of course not the half assed PG-13 piece of shit movie.

Movie is straight and to the point, about 85 minutes, low budget,but for this kind of movie this budget is enough. My only complaint is the quite limited release in french theaters, while as usual all the garbage and propaganda flicks  can be watched everywhere, even in the most remote villages.

-Frenchie