The Logan Conspiracy - DVD

Content: Actually, ex-CIA agent Ben Logan (Aaron Eckhart) wanted to start a whole new life in Belgium. On the one hand, he wanted to finally establish something like a normal relationship with his daughter Amy (Liana Liberato). For another, his new job at a security systems company was supposed to put an end to the secrecy that comes with a job at the CIA. But even this new job can be life-threatening, Ben finds out when he shows up at the company one day and finds nothing but abandoned offices. His supposed employer claims never to have hired Ben. And when the colleagues he's worked with day in and day out over the past few months all turn up at the morgue, it's clear to Ben that now his life and Amy's are in danger too. And so begins a merciless escape for father and daughter, which becomes all the more dangerous when CIA assassin Anna (Olga Kurylenko), who shares a common past with Ben, takes to the heels of the fugitives...

With The Logan Conspiracy, North Face and Goethe!director Philipp Stölzl has directed a tense conspiracy thriller that, in its best moments, certainly manages to reach the level of its obvious role models, the Bourne and Taken films. The action is thrillingly staged, and the atmospheric locations in Brussels add a special flair to the action. Aaron Eckhart, who is no stranger to action thanks to films like Battle Los Angeles and Paycheck, is absolutely convincing as the hunted who becomes the hunter. And Bond girl Olga Kurylenko also cuts a really good figure as an ice-cold CIA agent. Embedded in a not necessarily original, but still very exciting story, the well-chosen actors deliver no Oscar-worthy performances, but implement the script rousing and absolutely coherent.

This can benefit the film especially in the scenes in which the clichés get out of hand. The complicated father-daughter relationship, for example, is dramaturgically a bit too overused, but thanks to the good actors it still works well enough not to do lasting harm to the carefully built tension level. Admittedly, some not exactly small logic holes and a few not necessarily original plot twists tarnish the overall very positive picture. But in view of the many successful moments and the dense production, the small weaknesses are only marginally negative weight.

Stölzl succeeds very well in captivating the audience to the story and let them sympathize with Ben and Amy. Even if, as in Nordwand, the visuals and the staging of the suspenseful moments succeed better than the fleshing out of the characters, the Munich-based director still impressively proves with this thriller that he can also play on the international stage. If you appreciate gripping conspiracy thrillers with some action and drama, and if you can overlook a few clichés, this home movie premiere can really be warmly recommended. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The DVD's image is clean, has an atmospheric color scheme and a high level of sharpness that renders smaller details well, especially in the brighter scenes. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix presents itself quite restrained at the beginning and dominated by the rather centrally mixed dialogue. But as the story progresses, the surround moments increase along with the action sequences, providing pleasant movement in the tonal action thanks to a powerful mix. Good!

Extras: As extras, the DVD has to offer a short interview making of in addition to the trailer. This is not uninteresting, but with a little over 10 minutes unfortunately much too short to really go into depth.

Conclusion:The Logan Conspiracy is a solidly staged thriller, which uses many familiar set pieces, but combines them in an effective way to a suspenseful whole. Philipp Stölzl's Hollywood debut doesn't quite measure up to its obvious predecessors like the Bourne films, but overall offers enough good moments to be recommended with a clear conscience to fans of action-heavy conspiracy thrillers.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp