Empire

Rating:
Summary: See for another aspect of the New York underground
Review: EMPIRE is a carefully thought out approach to the question of "What would the little drug dealers in New York do if they had the chance to make money legitimately?". Too often we see these gangsta movies that are just caught in the glue of the drug world, rarely advancing out of it. In EMPIRE John Leguizamo makes us believe in his character, in his striving to get out of the drug world to make a life for his girlfriend and incipient family. There are clever twists and turns and it is great to see the 'bad guy' be the uptown Ivy League manipulator. The cast is strong, the photography is good, the narration of the story by Leguizamo is enlightening, and the movie takes us where others are afraid to go. Worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: [Similar to] Carlito's Way
Review: Empire is an o.k. movie but not one I'd want to see again. It is [like]Carlito's Way which is far and away a better movie starring Al Pacino. The similarites between the two are many, including the ethinicity of the character, trying to get out of the game, and the ending of the movie. If you want to see a really good movie on this subject see Carlito's Way, if you want to see Fat Joe ... see this.

Rating:
Summary: Empire: in deep 5 Stars......................
Review: Empire is, ithout question, a great movie. I truly enjoyed this movie. Yes, I agree there is some violence. But what this movie paints is a true to life portrayal of what can happened when the stakes are high (or too high) for some gamblers!

I liked how the story unfolds, develops, and ends. I like this movie so much that, yes, I plan on buying a copy. I do recommend this movie to viewers interested in looking at the "other America," and how this side is in deep. Unfortunately, some do succumb to this lifestyle, but not all.

Personally, I think this is a great movie. Also, it is about time to bring about a movie about how some people in the barrio live, not all.

Thanks to the producers........

Rating:
Summary: Leguizamo at his best.. I think
Review: Empire was a great movie. I really enjoyed it. John Leguizamo is unbelievably talented and he can pull off any roll. Hey, if he can do a convincing job as Luigi from the Mario Brothers, then he can do this, right? The only problem with this movie was the ending. Watching previews and promos and commercials from this movie, one is lead to believe that the ending sequence, the most CRUCIAL point in the movie, the point when Leguizamo confronts the shady banker about stealing his money, will be this long, amazing display. But I was very disappointed to see that it only lasts, like 30 seconds. It's like you're sitting there waiting for this great thing to happen, but you're disappointed when it doesn't deliver. And then John's fate in the end.. to say the least, it was disappointing. Overall, the movie was very good but the ending could use some work. It kind of ruined the whole movie. But either way, if you're a Leguizamo fan then you're in for a treat. Just cover your eyes in the end.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: First time director Franc Reyes, simply did a masterful job in writing and directing this film. Growing up in the South Bronx himself, what he saw and been through in his life was the basis for this movie, thats what made it so real and good. John Leguizamo as Victor Rosa was the perfect choice, and the all around acting in this film was one of the best I've seen. Treach as "Chedda" and Fat Joe as rival drug lord "Tito" gave great perfomances, who better to play the roles of someone tying to survive in the streets than these two. Beautiful Delilah Cotto as Carmen was a breath of fresh air and played well as Victor's girlfriend, Vincent Larresca as "Jimmy" gave a riveting performance as Victor's best friend. The pacing of the movie was on point, with great sequences and music, Franc Reyes heavily releyed on latin style music thorougout this movie as well as hip-hop. This film has it all, love, friendship, betrayal and the consequences of it all. This movie is my all time favorite with scarface placing a close second. Just as a little triva.. The guy who plays "Hector" (Carlos Leon) who Jimmy has war with, is none other than the father of Madonna's daughter, thought that was kind of interesting. Get this movie, watch it and feel how compelling it is.

Rating:
Summary: Purely Awesome
Review: I have been a long time fan of John Leguizamo for years thanks to his awsome comedies (specifically The Pest), but I have to say this movie canged my view of his serious acting. The movie was wonderful! As a small town girl, the drug deal subject enthraled me because things like that are so foreign to us in the small towns. It was awsome! Everyone must see this.

Rating:
Summary: 9 out of 10 stars for Empire
Review: I have my own rating system I give a certain amount of stars based on the movie's good and bad qualities out of 10, for instance in the case of Empire I give the movie a 9/10. here are my reasons for giving the movie this grade:

Positive: The movie shows what the life of being a drug dealer is like without sugar coating it. It's good to show the people in the drug dealing business what can happen if you mess around with the wrong people. The plot is great and the acting is superb. John Leguizamo is at the top of his game in this movie. It's really entertaining.

Negative: There is an abundance of strong language in the movie. Not as much as 8 Mile, but pretty close. There is also graphic violence too, which I almost couldn't handle.

If it wasn't for the graphic violence and language, the movie would have been a perfect 10! But anyway, it's a great movie to watch if you're looking for something good.

Rating:
Summary: What The..??
Review: I like John L and think he's a great actor but this movie wasn't up to his level.It started out real good almost like a documentary where he's talkng about life on the streets and what its all about. MONEY! The end was stupid...The trailer fooled me into believing it ws a bigger story than it was. Dry and weak.

Rating:
Summary: Empire
Review: I love empire. i think that John leguizamos(Hangin with the homeboyz,Moulin Rouge,The Pest) and first time director Franc Reyes did an execellent job putting together this film about everyday struggles for us young Puerto Rican Americans growing up in the urban streets of new york city. Movie Critics like Siskel and Ebert and many other movie experts don't rate this movie above average because of all the violence and foul language scenes that this movie contains but this is definately a classic and i hope that some time in the near future we can see another movie similar to this one.

Rating:
Summary: A Bad "Carlito's Way" Wanna-Be
Review: I love John Leguizamo and was excited to see this movie when I saw the preview. Thankfully I didnt run to the theater to see it.

Anyone who has seen "Carlito's Way" will remember John for his great protrayal of "Benny Blanco From The Bronx". In many ways this movie parrallels Carlito's Way and tries to be a 2002 version of that now classic movie. It's been a while since a really good crime drama came out - one that could take a place with Goodfellas, Scarface, Carltio's Way or Casino. This movie falls very short of being anything close to a return to the 80's and early 90's and the great crime dramas and gangster flicks from that period.

The movie is about a latino man named Vic, who runs a drug cartel in south bronx. The product is called "empire", hence the name of the movie. The movie also has Leguizamo narrating, much in the way "Carlito's Way" did - only not very good. Where as 'Calito Brigante" really did apear an intelligent, quick witted, and admirable character, "Vic" comes off much less apealing and the monologue isn't anything close. You wont hear any good lines in this one - nothing like "the street is watching".

It's not an entirely bad movie either though. Just seeing Leguizamo on screen is entertaining because of his personality but he cant carry the whole movie and no other characters in the movie where even a slight bit interesting nor were they developed well in the plot. The "twist" at the end was anything BUT original too and the plot itself offers little to ponder.

In the end this is a generic movie trying to be a new version of the great classic gangster flicks. It fails badly, but isnt a total snore either. The only good thing about the movie was Leguizamo.