Rating: 
Summary: Empire is an educational film on the Drug Business!
Review: I really have to say that I have really enjoyed this film! It had a plot to it, which most ganster films fell to give. I thought the whole idea of colliding the two worlds together was brillant! We never really get to see how the clean Business man is envolved with the Ghetto Drug Business. Which is true and this is happening everyday but we don't know about it. I thought John L, really did his part in the film and was convincing! I loved Deniese Richards part in the film. By the way Deniese has lost a lot of weight, shes looking alittle stressed out and older! The first time I noticed was in "2000's Valentine" and she has been incredibly skinny every since. But anyway over all this is a very suspenseful thriller it keeps you on the edge. It is like the "New Jack City" of the New Millenium! It really goes deep into the drug world and lets you see the reality of it. All the way down to how it is cut and how the "Spots and Turfs" are divided. After watching this film if you are Naive on this subject this will definitely teach you a whole lot! I will say that the ending was a bit short. I felt the confrontation between the Banker and John should have been more serious! I mean you are waiting on him to get this man back and it is over so expeditiously! I like man, it could have been a bit more suspenseful. But anyway overall it is the closest to a satifying ganster film as you are going to get. Goodness know's it makes more sense and runs a ring around "Belly" & "Exit wounds". I was really beginning to loose faith in black cinema. Now I can truley say there are still some good directors out there!Arish
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Movie!!
Review: I'm a little biased towards this movie, because I'm a HUGE John Leguizamo fan. I'm obsessed with Freak, Super Mario Brothers, Ice Age, and just about everything else he's done. So when I saw the previews for "Empire", you better believe I was the first one standing in line at the movie theater on opening night.
Leguizamo plays Victor Rosa, a South Bronx Drug Dealer. The product he sells is called Empire (hence the movie title) and he's very successful in his business. Through his girlfriend, he meets a guy named Jack, an investment banker in Manhattan. Jack and Vic become chummy, and Vic decides to leave the street life behind and move into a swanky loft in Soho with his girlfriend and their unborn child.
Life with Jack is just peachy - Vic is making more money than ever before, he's happy as ever in his new environment, and things are going well with his girlfriend and the pregnancy. Then one day, Jack says he just came across a new investment opportunity, and if Vic wants to be a part of it, he needs to put in a minimum of $1.5 million dollars. Vic puts it in without hesitation, and this is where the plot thickens.
For those who havent seen it, I won't give away the ending. But let's just say Jack isn't as legit as he says he is.
My only complaint is that the plot "twist" was a little predictable, and the ending of the movie wasn't as spectacular as it was made out to be in all the publicity. But if you like gritty crime dramas chock full of suspense, revenge, and JOHN LEGUIZAMO, then this is definitely the movie for you.
Rating:
Summary: Empire
Review: It is a great movie! Inspirational may be a word used for it. It brings out the life of this druglord from South Bronx who falls into the trap that consumes all... the need for more money. I recommend everyone to see it.
Rating:
Summary: one of John Leguizamo's best movies
Review: John Leguizamo gives one of his best preformences next to Romeo and juilet. i found the movie overall to have a decent plot with decent actors. the overall movie was good with some action every once in a while.this is a movie to buy but if you dont like a slow movie, then dont get this one.
Rating: 
Summary: this movie is in a class all by itself
Review: John Leguizamo is hot in this movie. This movie struck me as a little of "Menace II Society" and a little of "New Jack City." Fat Joe had a cool cameo. Don't sleep on this movie and don't let the haters persuade you to pass this one by.
Rating:
Summary: Classic
Review: John Leguizamo is hot in this movie. This movie struck me as a little of "Menace II Society" and a little of "New Jack City." Fat Joe had a cool cameo. Don't sleep on this movie and don't let the haters persuade you to pass this one by.
Rating:
Summary: Classic
Review: John Leguizamo is hot in this movie. This movie struck me as a little of "Menace II Society" and a little of "New Jack City." Fat Joe had a cool cameo. Don't sleep on this movie and don't let the haters persuade you to pass this one by.
Rating: 
Summary: O'might dollar...
Review: South Bronx has been divided up by four prominent drug dealers who respect each others' borders. However, every now and then it happens that they cross each others borders, which always leads to brutal violence. Victor Rosa (John Leguizamo) is one of these four drug dealers, and he ends up getting shot due to one of these disputes. Victor survives, but realizes that he must quit before he ends up like his older brother who was killed over the drug business. Therefore, he begins to do business with a Wall Street investment banker who he gets to know through his girlfriend's friend. This leads to Victor beginning to lose sight of where he is going and before he knows it he is lost in a heap of trouble. Empire begins with an interesting premise, which is delicately crafted. However, the overuse of voiceover causes the intellectual angle to loose its power, and as the story develops it becomes more predictable and entangled in itself. This then produces an over ambitious film that lacks a set path and results in an average cinematic experience.
Rating:
Summary: O'might dollar...
Review: South Bronx has been divided up by four prominent drug dealers who respect each others' borders. However, every now and then it happens that they cross each others borders, which always leads to brutal violence. Victor Rosa (John Leguizamo) is one of these four drug dealers, and he ends up getting shot due to one of these disputes. Victor survives, but realizes that he must quit before he ends up like his older brother who was killed over the drug business. Therefore, he begins to do business with a Wall Street investment banker who he gets to know through his girlfriend's friend. This leads to Victor beginning to lose sight of where he is going and before he knows it he is lost in a heap of trouble. Empire begins with an interesting premise, which is delicately crafted. However, the overuse of voiceover causes the intellectual angle to loose its power, and as the story develops it becomes more predictable and entangled in itself. This then produces an over ambitious film that lacks a set path and results in an average cinematic experience.
Rating:
Summary: Dig beneath the surface
Review: The plot: Successful South Bronx drug dealer Vic (John Leguizamo), hooked up solid w/ a co-ed neighbor Carmen (Delilah Cotto), is looking to move up to the next level in business. At a party, Vic meets Jack, the whitebread stockbroker boyfriend (Peter Skarsgard) of Carmen's college buddy (Denise Richards). Vic envies Jack's class, connections, and bling bling. Vic and Jack do business, Jack cheats Vic, then fades. Vic vows revenge. Leguizamo has charisma to burn as Vic. Cotto wears Carmen like a favorite dress. Skarsgard is pefectly white as, well, whitey. Pretty formulaic. So, why did I give it five stars? The deleted scenes. If you follow the entertainment news even casually, you've read a million stories about great movies that turned into vile theatrical releases because the fickle test audience and/or egomanical studio head/director/star demanded cuts that transformed cinema gold into more film for the recycling bin. That's what's happened with Empire, but fortunately, the deleted scenes are included. With them, this by-the-numbers gangsta flick turns into a rich, nuanced classic, brimming with emotional truth and authentic, relatable Puerto Rican characters and culture. With the deleted scenes, you understand why Vic gives up everything to get ahead, why Carmen supports him, why Carmen's mother hates Vic, and why Jack is the whitest, sneakiest guy on the planet. Clearly, Empire was edited for an audience of teenaged gangsta wannabes who don't want to question their assumptions about race, gender, and culture. It should have been released as a film for adults, a classic tragedy that ranks with White Heat, Little Caesar, Blood In Blood Out and American Me. At least now we have the deleted scenes to help us understand what Empire was supposed to be. Here's hoping Franc. Reyes will have the opportunity to release a director's cut somewhere down the road. He and his actors deserve it, and so do we.
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