Empire of the Wolves (2005)

Not a film about Alzheimer's disease or about illegal immigrants

A chic Parisian housewife (Arly Jover) finds her life falling apart when suddenly she can no longer remember the man that she is married to. Meanwhile, a young police officer (Jocelyn Quivrin) is forced to join forces with the ethically challenged Det. Schiffer (Jean Reno) in order to solve the grisly murders of three Turkish immigrants.

Even though I am a huge fan of Jean Reno and of Jean-Christophe Grange's other book-film adaptation, "The Crimson Rivers", I kept finding myself putting off seeing this film because I was under the mistaken belief that this was going to be a film about the plight of illegal immigrants in France - ie a film with a social message (something which I generally try to avoid). My father, on the other hand, who is also a fan of Reno, and who watched this film with me, said that during the first twenty minutes of the movie, he thought that he had accidentally stumbled across a film about a woman with Alzheimer's disease (which is something he would avoid). Boy were we both wrong.

"Empire of the Wolves" is an exciting, and intelligent action film that neatly links two seemingly unrelated stories to produce a combination between a police procedural and a biotech thriller. The ending was a little weak, but the story's twists and turns still managed to keep me interested until then. Because this is adapted from a novel, there are some points throughout the movie where it feels as though details from the book have been either omitted or glossed over, but rather than bothering me, this just made me want to go and read the book.

Be aware that, although Jean Reno is given top billings in this film, he is not actually the main character. His role is big enough to satisfy Reno fans, but would definitely be classed as a supporting. People who like this film should also consider watching "The Crimson Rivers". The stories are very different, but the tone and style of the two films is almost identical.
August 16, 2008

Two stars instead of one because the first half was good

I really enjoyed this film until the second half started to go downhill. A lot of things just did not make sense toward the end. This is the kind of movie that needs to be remade in the U.S. - all they have to do is fix the second half of the film, mostly the last 15 minutes. If you are a big Jean Reno fan, this is for you, but I thought the female lead was dynamite until the plot got loose toward the end. August 15, 2008

A few cards short

The central female character, Anna (Arly Jover), is engaging whilst she struggles to uncover her mysterious origins but the two protagonists striving to solve the same mystery by tracking down the murderers of her predecessors are quite unlikeable. Moreover there never is a plausible connection between all the dead Turkish women and Anna except for their nationality. Its never explained why the Wolves killed them or how their deaths came about.

Far too much of this movie makes little or no sense until the end and then the explanations just leave you cold. Who are the Wolves? Turkish Terrorists? Why are they Terrorists? Oh, no reason, they're just evil. Only evil guys would hide out in the famous Christian catacombs in Turkey - unnoticed by thousands of tourists and locals.

Give this film a miss and pick up Wasabi instead! May 10, 2008

THE TURKISH CANDIDATE

Highly original thriller more or less a mirror 'type' image of "Manchurian Candidate" and it packs quite a punch ARLY JOVER is spectacular as the very confused candidate, and it becomes quite an eye opener re. the world of 'intrigue'.

Reno [as usual] never fails to please and is remarkably original in his depiction of the burnt out [?] cop?

Enough said - go along for the ride - this is an original and deserves much more attention than previously received.

[ps. Hollywood - please don't remake - this is classic French 2000 cimnema].

October 21, 2007

the worst movie of Jean Reno

It is one the worst film I have ever seen lately. The dubbing is made so poorly, that I had to watch it in French. I have read the book which I liked but the movie is a complete disaster! They could have made a little research or close to reality. There is a false advertisement; such as punks are introduced as Turks in the Turkish zone in Paris! Even the music is not Turkish but funky punk music when again when they show the Turkish areas. The wolves (far right hand - nationalists) are resembled as the Kurdish terrorists who lives in the mountain which is far from the reality. In sum, it does not worth buying or watching. I have wasted my time! August 23, 2007

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