Flat screen revival of the Fantômas legend. It's broken down in four episodes, the first and last directed by Claude Chabrol, the other two directed by the son of Luis Bunuel. The 1st episode is decent; the 2nd is a dud until the last 20 minutes, where there is a bit of tension; the 3rd has some good fight scenes and a big stunt but is otherwise terrible; the 4th is the dullest - and it "ends" with no ending!!! Throughout the series there is barely any atmosphere, very little excitement, and no fun. There is no mystique to Fantômas' character - we know who he is from the start - and he acts more like a brutal thug than a master criminal. Inspector Juve is well-acted, but he is so incompetent (even failing to see through Fantômas' obvious disguises) that it's hard to take him seriously. The only other main character - Juve's friend, a reporter - is uninteresting (Lady Beltham pops in and out too inconsistently to consider). The best thing about this series is George Delerue's music score. Overall, it's not worth the investment of 6 hours by any means - you could maybe squeeze 30 minutes worth of good stuff from the entire show. Not surprising it got cancelled. *1/2 out of 4.
Review of Fantômas
