Review of Carlos (2010) by Caesar M — 26 Apr 2012

Carlos is not only a lengthy movie (or a 3 part miniseries if you seen it on television) it`s one of finest character driven movie i've ever seen. With a great execution and a outstanding performance from Edgar Ramirez of the title character and real life terrorists. Carlos accomplished the impossible and made a 3+ hour movie entertaining from beginning to end.

Carlos has a lot of story that a simple summary can`t give you a broad idea of the movie. Part one focuses on Carlos who's involved with a series of terrorist attacks in London and then Paris. I enjoyed the first half as it details Ilich Ramirez Sanchez who adapts the name of Carlos and is portrayed by the excellent Edgar Ramirez. We get to see Carlos early successes and failures, how he carefully assemble a team and plans the terrorist attacks, and we get to learn about Carlos himself by his action and through intelligent dialogue. Carlos is a very dynamic character who gets better as the movie goes on and makes this political epic a blast no matter what your views on politics are. Speaking of dialogue, the characters do speak in different languages throughout the whole movie which will bother some viewers. It also contains most of the violence in this miniseries. It doesn't take away anything from the quality of the movie as it`s still keeps your interest no matter what. Part one is a great start to this lengthy feature and continues to get better.

Part two of Carlos mostly details one of the most the most infamous of terrorist attack in 1975. Carlos who took control OPEC headquarters and took several of it ministers as well as delegates. He then attempt to take them to a certain location by plane with the intentions to gained what he's fighting for, but fails due to several difficulties and continues his work despite this massive failure. This part of the movie was the best in terms of dialogue and cinematography. Every scene is shot so nicely that you'll lose yourself in the movie universe. The performances are remarkable and adds a whole new level of realism to the experience. At this point the movie has thrown many characters and plots line at you that it`s easy to lose track. Thanks to Olivier Assayas direction I found it effective how he brings in a new plotline without making the already complex plot lost to the audience.

The third and final part of Carlos was the weakest. It mainly focuses on his decline as a terrorist and the effects it has on his life. The final part is not as well done as Carlos does a lot the same throughout this part, like constantly complaining to his wife. As disappointing at it was, I felt that it was the most important and dynamic to the character. We see him struggling and declining in size of his operation. On its own it`s easily the weakest of the three entry, but as whole it brings a solid and satisfying conclusion to the movie. It has a lot beautiful location and everything is just thrilling about this masterpiece. As for accuracy I can't say much about it other than the real life Carlos disliked this movie and wanted it banned from theaters. He did so unsuccessfully in court, while these attacks can be seen differently by your political agenda and how feel about the terrorist himself. There is no denying how good it is we have this monster (in my opinion at least) locked away.

Carlos is a very lengthy, detailed masterpiece driven by a character and handle with care and a dedicated direction. It`s 3+ hour length might too much for some, but those who are wanting a deep, complex, and fascinating experience will find it here no matter what you think the real life figure.