|
Directed by: Christophe Gans Starring: Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Émilie Dequenne Le Pacte des loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) opens with a French nobleman, Thomas d'Apcher, trapped in his chateau as it is surrounded by an angry mob spurred on by the fervour of the Revolution. Thinking back to days past, he relates to the audience the story of a man by the name of de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan) and his encounter with the infamous Beast of Gevaudan, a monster that terrorised his home many years ago. Brotherhood of the Wolf is a compelling period film that skilfully weaves together this French legend with a number of filmmaking styles and genres, from romance and mystery to horror and even conspiracy themes. However, the most obvious and interesting element integrated into the mix is Hong Kong style martial arts, choreographed by Phillip Kwok of The Five Deadly Venoms fame. While these scenes are relatively sparse, the impact of the first confrontation, a staff fight in the rain, is incredible. However, with the exception of this fight and a sword duel late in the film, most of the sequences are fairly average, and further marred by camera work shot too close to the action. Brotherhood also features fine performances across the cast with Monica Bellucci a notable standout as a prostitute with hidden motives. Le Bihan is excellent as de Fronsac, while Dacascos delivers an understated performance as Mani, de Fronsac’s rear end kicking Iroquois companion. The plot is compelling, weaving together several story threads with a number of intriguing twists and turns that some may find a little long winded in the end. I also felt that some of these later plot points could have been explained a little clearer. There’s also extensive special effects work in the film, with CG being used from typical crowd expansion shots to more interesting sequences in the movie, such as a scene transition from a prone Bellucci’s gorgeous nude body to a snow covered mountain range, to the working realisation of a weapon familiar to fans of the game Soul Calibur 2. Production design and costuming in Brotherhood of the Wolf is superb as is the score by frequent Sam Raimi collaborator Joseph LoDuca. The film also features some particularly stunning cinematography, though occasionally punctuated by some gimmicky gratuitous speed changes during action scenes. Also keep your eyes open for the greatest pumpkin shooting scene ever committed to film! Unfortunately, after a number of teases, when it comes to actually showing the Beast, the creature in question ends up being a bit of a letdown, in both appearance and realisation in CG, though to give the film credit the Henson Creature Shop animatronics are quite good. However, while this shortcoming may be an issue in any other monster movie, it is ultimately the strength of the other elements in Brotherhood of the Wolf that still make it an impressive and compelling period action film based on a little known but still intriguing old French legend. 4.5/5 PROS: A compelling period action film that ingeniously mixes and matches elements. CONS: Might be a little too long winded for some. The Beast is a little underwhelming. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237534/ mrkillboy fucked around with this message at 08:39 on May 13, 2004 |
#
?
May 13, 2004 08:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:57 |
|
|
Highly enjoyable movie. The fight scene in the rain in the beginning is loving great. All of the fight scenes in the movie were very well choreographed, and fun as hell to watch. The story does drag a bit every now and then, and yeah, the Beast was pretty underwhelming, but overall it was a really fun movie that I enjoyed very much. The replayability factor isn't too high on it though, so I'll have to give it a 4 out of 5 instead of a 4.5.
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2004 10:16
|
|
|
I thought this was really awful. It was an interesting premise, but there was too much spectacle and overuse of slow motion effects. I thought they did a good job with the beast for a large part of the movie; as long as it was hidden in the shadows it looked pretty good. It seems French film is leaning towards this (overdraw action) kind of filmmaking nowadays, which is a real disappointment for me.
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2004 14:34
|
|
|
Brotherhood of the Wolf is a very enjoyable movie. The only real problem I had with it was there were some parts that were sort of dragged out, but I just expect things like that from French films usually. I liked the characters, I liked the action, the plot was pretty good with some interesting twists, and the sets were nicely done. Just a very enjoyable film. 4.0/5.0
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2004 15:24
|
|
|
quote:danthemitchell came out of the closet to say: I could have read too much into it, but i thought in a lot of ways it was a pretty good parody. I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was fun. That said, it was the most predictable movie ever, but i thought that was on purpose. I thought a lot of the effects, plot devices, and character development was done in a manner to be both enjoyable and to be a subtle parody of the paradigmatic action movie. also, Manny rocked. 4.5/5
|
|
#
?
May 13, 2004 20:09
|
|
|
I enjoyed the beginning of the movie, but soon lost interest when it felt like they were trying to show me four different movies at once.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2004 00:52
|
|
|
I really liked this movie. Naked Monica Bellucci, fantastic swordplay and martial arts, and the monster (which was panned by some critics as a hokey reject of Henson's muppet shop) was something I found absolutely terrifying. And for an action movie, it had some profoundly poetic moments. 4.5/5
|
|
#
?
May 25, 2004 08:05
|
|
|
Overlong, overly artistic werewolf saga. The set design, costumes, art direction and cinematography were all very well done, but gently caress what a boring assload of a story. It also ties the record for most fake-out endings with Return of the King. Two.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2004 09:06
|
|
|
Hated the movie with a passion, it started out ineresting enough, but then slowed down exponetily, after 2 hours of a cheesy romance, horrible acting, and no monster I got fed up and fast forwarded to the ending, saw a horrible CGI monster, and shut off the movie. I give it a two.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2004 12:46
|
|
|
This was a prety fun movie, I loved the "wolf", the fights rocked and Monica Bellucci hotness is surpassed only by her ultra cool kill. The only thing that keeps me from rating this a five is the horrible over use of slo-mo in the fights. I think the movie could have come in an hour shorter if they let the action play out at a normal speed. EDIT: I should probably note that I voted it a 4. Soonmot fucked around with this message at 12:22 on May 29, 2004 |
|
#
?
May 28, 2004 14:26
|
|
|
If you've never seen this movie, rent it! It just keeps going and going and going, in which the ending is kinda unpredictable. Very climatic, very different. If it wernt for the subtitles/english dub, you probably think it was a hollywood sleeper. Movie delivers a good story. 5
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2004 00:46
|
|
|
What a wicked movie, Much better in french.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2004 02:26
|
|
|
I got the 3 disc Canadian DVD of this and was not disappointed. I'll pretty much watch anything with Monica Bellucci in it, and Mrs. Bellucci with kung fu? Yes, please. 4/5
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2004 07:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:57 |
|
|
Probably the best use of slow-motion and cinematography I've ever seen a movie. The opening fight scene with Mani is definately a jaw-dropper. I thought the plot was decent (not absolutely incredable, but decent) and the acting was also great for an action movie. Without a doubt this movie gets a 5. In my opinion it's on par with The Matrix.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2004 08:51
|
|
