I remember watching Lost Bullet when it came out 5 years ago, but I couldn’t tell you anything about it so this weekend I binged all 3 movies in one day so it’s all fresh in my head. I thought it was about damn time we covered all these movies and boy am I glad I watched them. This is one of the best action trilogies in years, so let’s take a look through each entry.
Lost Bullet (2020)
Plot: Facing a murder charge, a genius mechanic with a criminal past must track down a missing car containing the proof of his innocence: a single bullet.
There are some potentially mild spoilers ahead so if you know nothing about this movie then best move on.
Netflix has really upped their game with their recent action movies and Lost Bullet (or Balle Perdue to give it its French title) is another gem; from director Guillaume Pierret it tells the story of a small time criminal called Lino (Alban Lenoir) who turns police mechanic for a go fast task force and has to defend his innocence when his mentor is killed by dirty cops.
Alban Lenoir really has the look and the moves to be a new action star even if Lino isn’t the most exciting character ever; there really isn’t much to him but there’s enough there for us to care about him and want him to find justice.
Lost Bullet is more thrilling than a dozen Fast & Furious movies with some incredible vehicular action scenes, but also some visceral fights. Each fight scene happens for a reason with the highlight being when Lino escapes the police station. It’s such a desperate struggle that you are on the edge of your seat rooting for him to get away so he can find the real criminals and clear his name.
At 93 minutes it’s a welcome shot of adrenaline as Lino tries to evade his pursuers using any means necessary. His colleague Julia (Stéfi Celma) is the only person he can trust as he tries to convince her of his innocence, and she at first she isn’t especially appealing, but as the movies progress she proves what a total badass she is.
Nicolas Duvauchelle is truly hateful as Areski who manages to escape, but we may not have heard the last of him, so he may return at a later date…
The action is shot well with no noticeable CG and there are some excellent stunts; the performances generally seem strong and it’s very well paced with a few moments of levity (but not many), so if you’re looking for your action fix then look no further.
Overall, Lost Bullet was a pleasant surprise with some kick-ass action, brutal beatdowns and a potential new action star in Alban Lenoir.
Lost Bullet 2 (2022)
Plot: After the death of Charras, Lino and Julia form the new narcotics unit. Determined to find the murderers of his brother and his mentor, Lino continues his hunt and won’t let anyone get in his way.
This sequel takes place 6 months after the events of the first movie with Areski on the run and Lino trying to stop more corrupt cops from killing Marco who worked closely with Areski.
This movie has about 5 minutes without action with insane vehicular carnage and once again Lino beating up multiple cops as he escapes the station again. Hollywood really could learn a lot from this franchise with real explosions and car chases, well choreographed fight scenes and all 3 movies are less than two hours. It’s refreshing and perfectly paced with Lino the unstoppable hero who is determined to find Areski and bring him to justice.
Lino and Julia’s relationship has become far more complicated, but she clearly still has feelings for him and knows he is right.
Areski doesn’t show up until the end, but we get a few other rogue cops for Lino to deal with including Yuri who seems to be invincible as he somehow manages to show up in the third movie. The best new character is Alvaro (Diego Martin), a Spanish cop who was friends with Charras and is a genuinely good guy.
Overall, Lost Bullet 2 is action-packed with some amazing set-pieces and arguably even better paced than the first film. This is one of the better action franchises of recent times and delivers everything you could want. Now on to the finale…
Last Bullet (2025)
Plot: Car genius Lino returns to conclude his vendetta against Areski and the corrupt commander who ruined their lives.
And so we come to the third and final entry in the trilogy – Last Bullet; it’s all been building up to this and we finally get to meet the real villain of the series, Resz (Gérard Lanvin) and he’s a nasty piece of work. Lino is released from prison in an exchange deal and with his new hairstyle he looks remarkably like Leonard from The Big Bang Theory.
Anyway, he soon finds out that Areski has returned after being betrayed by his “allies” in Germany. We get to learn a bit more about Areski and I was worried it was going to be the kind of story that turned him into a sympathetic character, but thankfully that never happens. He made his choices and now he’s having to deal with the consequences.
Julia is once again the only person Lino can really trust frankly because she is nuts about him. Didn’t Julia quit at the end of the last movie though? Now all of a sudden she’s a cop again? That wasn’t even brought up or was I not paying attention?
Like the other two entries the action scenes are jaw dropping with the highlight being Lino driving his souped up pick-up and battling a helicopter and trucks. There is a genuine sense of scale to the set-pieces and these movies are some of the best Netflix have ever done up there with Extraction and The Night Comes for Us.
Overall, Last Bullet wraps everything up perfectly and justice is served; the action is as crazy as ever however, I think the second entry is my favourite as it’s just chaos from beginning to end. Either way, this is a quality action trilogy and definitely worth checking out if you like real stunts, brutal fights and some of the best vehicular carnage I’ve seen in many years.