Parrot Time Magazine

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
1h 47min
PG
Action / Adventure / Fantasy
14 April 2010 (France)

Country: France / USA
Language: French / English / Spanish

The French film The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec is absurd. Let's just get that out of the way from the start.

It is done in a very straight forward way, with everyone taking everything seriously, but there is also a sense of "yes, we know this is strange, but let's just move forward."

Events really start when, in 1910s Paris, a 136 million year-old pterosaur egg hatches through the telepathic powers of one Professor Espérandieu. The flying dinosaur escapes from the museum where the egg had been kept and attacks a cab containing a former prefect and a showgirl.

As more and more people report seeing the monster, the President of France orders the situation to be handled immediately by Inspector Albert Caponi, a foolish man more concerned with food than the flying reptile.

Meanwhile, our heroine, Adèle Blanc-Sec returns from Egypt, where she has found (so she believes) the Ramesses II's mummified doctor/physician, Patmosis. Her plan is to use the telepathic powers of Professor Espérandieu to revive the mummy who could then save her sister Agathe, who herself is comatose after a tennis accident.

The production quality of the film is extremely high and has, as befits it, an almost comic book feel to it. Sadly, the only language spoken is French, even by the ancient mummies.

Unfortunately, by the time of her return, Espérandieu has been arrested and found guilty of bringing about the pterosaur. He is scheduled for execution. When her attempt to bribe for his release fails, Adèle tries to break him out of the prison using a variety of disguises.

While Adèle fails at rescuing Espérandieu with disguises, she is able to make a daring rescue while riding the pterosaur who has been semi-tamed by Andrej Zborowski, a researcher at the museum the original egg came from and who is completely enamoured by Adèle.

The pterosaur, newly born and hungry

Just as they start to celebrate, however, the pterosaur is shot by big game hunter Justin de Saint-Hubert, who has been brought in to track down and dispose of the flying creature. Being telepathically linked, Espérandieu is fatally wounded as well, but he manages to perform a ritual to bring the mummy back to life before he himself dies.

Espérandieu trying to lure in the creature with meat

Adèle watches as the mummy starts moving, then politely speaking with her. She is stunned but quickly recovers her wits and shows the undead man her barely alive sister. Sadly, it turns out the mummy is actually the Pharoh's physicist, and knows nothing of medicine.

Our heroine is about to fall into despair when the Egyptian speculates that the power Espérandieu used to revive him was very great and probably affected others around them, including the other mummies in the museum. With that new hope, the two sneak into the museum and track down the Pharoh and his entourage, brought back to life.

Inspector and hunter, camouflaged as sheep to catch the creature

I don't want to give the entire story away, for there are still questions to be answered. Will the sister be made well again? Will Andrej ever win the affection of Adèle? Does Inspector Albert Caponi lose his job, get a promotion, or finally get the lunch he has been longing for?

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec is adapted from a comic series, with the film being a unique combination of different stories.

Andrej, Adèle, and Espérandieu guarding the pterosaur

The production quality of the film is extremely high and has, as befits it, an almost comic book feel to it. Sadly, the only language spoken is French, even by the ancient mummies.

I've actually watched this film twice, which is a rarity for me because it has to be interesting enough for me to sit through it a second time.

Adèle and her mummy

I would warn you that if you have seen the trailer for the film... ignore it. The advertisement suggests that Adèle spends most of the film in the desert, when actually that is just a small part at the beginner when she is hunting for the mummy. The real story is what takes back in France. I guess they wanted to make it appear more like an "Indiana Jones" type of adventure.

I would definitely suggest this film to anyone liking quirky adventures, even if you don't know or aren't learning French. I find myself liking French films (L'auberge Espagnole, Jean de Florette), yet I avoid French and France. I don't know what causes this disconnect, but I hope the French keep making fun films like this.