Lux: Warrior of Light (2018) User Reviews

The rise and fall of Lux - Warrior of Light

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 5 January 2018]

"Lux: Krieger des Lichts" is a new German movie, actually the first release of the new year 2018 that I am rating and reviewing. It runs for a bit over 100 minutes and is the first full feature film by writer and director Daniel Wild. The title character is played by Franz Rogowski and with the exception of Oliver Korittke having a brief cameo towards the end, he may be the only actor in here that people remember having come across in other works, even German film buffs probably. But they don't need big names here to make it a compelling watch at times. I thought about this film being inspired by The Wrestler, Kick-Ass and The Truman Show and the latter two were already mentioned in the movie after I thought of the parallels. Think of a bleak superhero movie mixing these 3 together and put it into Berlin and you have this one here. I must say that I was not impressed by this film in the first half. As a satire of the superhero genre, it wasn't really working at all and missed the right notes or went over the top too many times. The best example was the rap song, which was maybe still somewhat entertaining, but just not working out in terms of flow, atmosphere and overall tone. This was the moment I wanted it to be more like Stromberg for example. If you could say anything positive about the first half, then maybe that it still felt somewhat realistic, even if it was never really interesting or compelling. But with the unexpected very dark, very dramatic direction Wild was taking in the second half, he made up for a great deal of problems from the first. It became better by the minute and you genuinely cared about what was happening next to the characters, inmcluding the two stunning females we have in here. As for the very end almost, the potential drugged rape scene, this is where the film is at its darkest, I wasn't too fond of it. But I did like the results of it, the change in mind for the main character: We don't need superheroes. Heroes are enough as long as we are not facing any supernatural danger. There is more than enough that needs fixing here on our planet and that does not require superpowers, just a bit of compassion, caring and sympathy. Shame that those with the money and power to fix it, lack in these three departments 99% of the time. But we are drifting away now. Lets get back to the movie. I wasn't convinced with the build-up early on, but the longer it went the less doubts I had. I give this film a thumbs-up as a whole. Not best-of-the-year material, not even here in Germany, but thanks to the developments eventually, it is a quality watch. The social criticism is also presented a bit shoddy at times, especially the very cringeworthy migrant reference on one occasion, but the film makes up for it by becoming a strong character study not just about the main character, but also the supporting players felt authentic and they all had convincing shades. See this one and don't give up on it too early. You will be in for a treat. Good rookie effort from Wild here.