GTMAX Review: Olivier Schneider Revs Up His Film Creds With An Impressive Directing Debut
It was back in 2015 when Olivier Schneider hit my radar as the director of a then-pending screen adaptation of a 2010 crime novel. Things went quiet after that, but the career fight choreographer and stunt coordinator who’s worked on films like Taken, Safe House, Spectre, No Time To Die, and Fast X, was undoubtedly headed for a newer trajectory. That fact became clearer upon co-shepherding the limited mobile series, “Playground” a few years later, with only a handful of years before finally getting a stab in the director’s seat for a solo outing.
Alas, we get GTMax, Schneider’s directorial debut on which he also collaborated with the film’s writers. Schneider’s debut kicks off with an adrenaline fueled motorcycle chase and the resultant getaway by a small gang of thieves after evading dauntless motorcycle cop Lucas (Thibault Evrard). The film then pivots viewers into the world of motorcross racing via events and travails of the Carella family, who’ve since endured triumph over tragedy with the loss of their mother, and brother-sister duo Michael (Riadh Belaïche) and Soélie (Ava Baya) are the current face of the family’s racing legacy, with the latter since taking a backseat to mechanic status.
Faced with sudden financial turmoil and the possibility of losing the family business and legacy, Soélie reluctantly accepts a job offered to Michael through a mutual named Yacine (Samir Decazza) to help test a bike on a fixed course. Little do they know they’ve bitten off more than they can chew as the one small job turns into something major, with Soélie choosing to capitalize on the one shot that could help save the family business. Unfortunately, it’s not until Lucas’s unyielding pursuit threatens Elyas’s plans, revealing a darker side to their employer with even bigger stakes. With Michael suddenly framed for murder and Elyas out for absolution, Soélie will have no choice but to face her fears, save Michael and her family, and possibly put an end to Elyas’s crime spree if she can.
I wasn’t expecting GTMax to be Schneider’s first film as I was trying to keep up with some of the foreign language news over the years as much as possible. To say the least, this film was a delighful surprise, and coming from a stunt professional who, like many others in his field over the decades and in recent memory, has come to sharpen himself as a plentiful storyteller. GTMax taps in to the family drama that threatens to upend the peace that the Carella family as struggled to search for, and we see a lot of that struggle in how things bode between the siblings and their father, Daniel (Gérard Lanvin). The tragic onset of losing the matriarch plays a good deal into the father-son fracture coupled with the visible regret of watching Soélie sideline herself. She’s definitely got her reasons for doing so, and the journey we see her take in conquering her fears and insecurities once and for all are instrumental to the film’s progression and the potential cohesion and healing as the film approaches its daring third act.
Biker cop Lucas is akin to other roles in films where protagonistic cops are tormented by bureaucracy all for not playing by the book. There’s nothing really new here, but Evrard’s performance makes it a rewarding add-on to the backdrop of things, seeing law enforcement grow irksomely closer to unraveling Elyas’ plans. His team is another factor at that Decazza’s Yacine is a loose cannon at times. He’s as young as Daniel and way more foolish which gets him in situations that are stickier than the team needs right then, which especially goes for Theo (Jérémie Laheurte) who is more calm and level headed, and who grows a little more closer to Soélie despite his own apprehensions with Elyas’s choices.
The chase scenes are as fantastic as you would expect from a French action production, with very little offered in terms of the hand to hand stuff. Smooth and sweeping cinematography orchestrated to spectacular motorcycle sequences are par for the course, and with Baya front and center for the action much of the way, with a character whose incumbent transformation gives rise to an exciting final act to sign off a notable directing inauguration for Schneider. GTMax just recently launched on Netflix, and with Schneider only just getting started, you’re going to want to add this to your queue.
