Movies about motorcycle racing or motorcycles in general are quite rare. Granted, we did get The Bikeriders just a couple of months ago. And even that one is more of a character study than a high-octane adrenaline ride. I think that the first modern movie featuring motorcycles I ever saw was Torque. Not counting all the biker movies, of course. Burn Out is a sufficiently engaging French action thriller about a motorcycle racer who has to smuggle drugs to save his girl. I mean, that’s about it folks, I don’t need to tell you anything else about the story. There are some subplots and twists but most of them are pretty much predictable on par course.
I’ve said it once, and I’m going to keep repeating it every time I watch a movie like this. The French have this special ability to make simple stories feel much more impactful and deeper. The actors take their roles seriously and everyone here is fully committed to the project despite how superficial it sounds at first glance. Then again, what to expect from your average action thriller? Sometimes you want a movie that’s exactly like this. It’s actually really funny to try to make sense of this drug lord’s plans. Instead of using his tried-and-true method of drug smuggling, he opts to use a rookie to speed through all the stops bringing unnecessary attention to the whole endeavor.
It would appear that the entire plot was driven by the age-old formula of “we need to have these sorts of scenes and we’ll just make shit up as we go along to get there”. However, I did not read the original novel Balancé Dans les Cordes by Jérémie Guez upon which Burn Out is based. I actually first watched the Spanish version of this movie, Centauro. And I can tell you right now that it’s vastly inferior when compared to the original. Not only the main story feels more disjointed but the atmosphere is also a bit off. Still, you might think otherwise and Centauro is perfectly watchable if that’s something you’re looking for.
A forgettable actioner that will keep you mildly entertained for ninety minutes. What sets apart Burn Out from all the other movies in this subgenre is the motorcycle racing footage. It is exciting and entertaining offering a never-before-seen level of immersion. I genuinely don’t know how they filmed some of them. As soon as I see someone speeding on a motorcycle I get a bad feeling in my gut. And not just because one of my friends scared the shit out of me while I was riding bitch. However, I cannot deny that feeling of adrenaline rushing through your blood. A feeling of being alive.
Burn Out features a mixture of regular-day motorcycle racing and illegal nighttime drug runs. If this sounds like a perfect blend, it’s because it is. The production values are excellent and the cinematography is even better. It looks like it belongs in a much pricier and bigger movie than this one. And it proves that there are still good movies worth watching out there you simply haven’t stumbled upon yet. Subversive Rabbit is here to help you in that quest. And, as I think you already know, you can email or message me your recommendations and I’ll be sure to check them out.
Burn Out stars François Civil, one of the rising French actors who just recently played D’Artagnan in The Three Musketeers – D’Artagnan. So, you might even say that he’s already one of the most popular actors in France. Finally, I simply have to talk about a rather controversial topic that always pops up with motorcycles. I have to talk about Ghost Rider, not the movie but the Swedish motorcycle rider who became incredibly famous during the late 2000s. I remember watching his videos Ghost Rider Goes Wild and Ghost Rider Goes Crazy in Europe and shitting my pants. Mind you, his stunts are real and incredibly dangerous so proceed with caution. Rabbit out.
Director: Yann Gozlan
Writers: Yann Gozlan, Guillaume Lemans, Jérémie Guez
Cast: François Civil, Olivier Rabourdin, Manon Azem, Samuel Jouy, Narcisse Mame, Sam Louwyck
Fun Facts: You can watch Burn Out on Netflix but only if you live in the United States because apparently they didn’t buy all the rights to the movie.
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6340604/
