Female Agents review (15)

Half Black Book, half ’Allo, ’Allo, this old-fashioned homage to female resistance fighters hovers uncertainly between straight WW1 melodrama and retro parody.

At best it’s an exciting throwback that shows, through the exploits of five plucky femmes sent to rescue a British agent who has fallen into German hands, that the fairer sex really can be deadlier than the male.

If that is the case, though, why do their subsequent attempts to put a bullet in Moritz Bleibtreu’s head Nazi constantly come to nought? Sophie Marceau cuts a determined dash as team leader Louise, while convent girl Déborah François, showgirl Marie Gillain and hooker Julie Depardieu all bring something to the mission. But in the end, it’s tough to take a film seriously that proves so oblivious to its own clichés.

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