Rating: 
Summary: Brotherhood of the Wolf
Review: I loved this movie. I just saw it on DVD and i think that the story was good and the action was absolutely top shelf. The filming of the action was cool. The only bad thing was that the beast was revealed in the end and it was kinda corny. Other than that, great movie, awesome on DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: French rot
Review: Did Jean-Jacques Beineix' "Diva" destroy the French cinema? Sure, that post-Modernist Romantic pastiche is still thrilling cinema, and may be considered a logical continuation of New Wave ideals. Then the Besson/Jeunet/etc. crowd took over with their questionable extravagances. Still, they seemed to save their hairiest moments of bad taste for the English language crowd ("The Messenger"; "Alien Resurrection"). But Christophe Gans' "Brotherhood of the Wolf" brings the M-TV wolf to the French cinema henhouse. Is this Terry Gilliam does "Dangerous Liaisons"? Forget it. Think more like "An American Werewolf in Paris" meets a community theatre adaptation of "The Name of the Rose". Ruthlessly overlong and disappointingly short on atmosphere, Gans' overblown filmmaking throws in nothing but the kitchen sink. Attacking his costume-horror-kung fu genre pastiche with no discernible excitement, Gans takes a joyride and turns it into a train wreck. The dialogue is more "Cruel Intentions" than "Dangerous Liaisons". The unseen menace stalking the countryside is presented with no mood and little mystery. The erotic, Neil Jordanesque appeals of fantasy horror are completely unexplored. No action can be completed without a time-consuming dissolve to draw out even the most mundane (and dispensable) piece of business. And, despite a couple of very fetching female leads (in the merest sort of supporting roles) the film suffers a real deficit in actorly charisma. Indeed, the only hint of life in the film comes in the brothel sequence, which actually achieves some cinematic lilt (and does justice to the Boucher-to-Ingres French tradition of visual sensual indulgence). But most infuriatingly, the film drags on and on and on, with no intent to enrich the audience's level of entertainment. Based on this beast, Christophe Gans makes John Landis look like Jean Cocteau.
Rating: 
Summary: Missing scenes... bummer...
Review: I got to see this movie at the Zigfield Theater in NYC, and the initial action scene was breath-taking. When I played the DVD at home, I realized that this scene was not the same.If they re-release this movie with all the scenes restored, I'd give it a 4.5
Rating:
Summary: decent first half, weak second
Review: **1/2 "Brotherhood of the Wolf," a French horror film that enjoyed a measure of commercial success in its release here in the United States, tells the tale of a strange beast that terrorized the 18th Century French countryside and the men who sallied forth to find and kill it. The principal figures in the pursuit are Gregoire de Fronsac, a well-known naturalist and taxidermist just returned from a stint in the Americas, and his sidekick, Mani, the sole survivor of his Mohawk tribe and a man in tune with the spiritual side of the animal kingdom. Stylish as this film is at times, I'm afraid that "Brotherhood of the Wolf" turns out to be more interesting in concept than it is in execution. It tries hard to weave together the elements from a number of disparate genres, but the mixture never really jells. The first hour is an engaging, if talky, costume drama, with a whole host of characters involved in all sorts of political and romantic intrigue. The film succeeds in rousing our interest not only in the strange happenings that have befallen the inhabitants of this hapless region but also in the fascinating ways in which characters from all points of the social spectrum choose to deal with the crisis. So far, so good. But then, about halfway through the story, the creature finally reveals itself in full view of the camera, and, from that point on, the film quickly degenerates into a standard-issue monster movie with the heroes forced to do endless battle not only with the beast itself but also with all the people who are protecting and guarding it. The problem with so many horror films is that the object of the terror is always so much more effective when it is kept hidden in the shadows, when we are allowed to use our imaginations and conceptualize the threat in terms that most frighten us. Yet, bring the creature out into the open and let us see it in its every gruesome detail, and the terror disappears. The beast becomes little more than another silly CGI special effect. I don't know what the answer is in overcoming this problem, but I do know that the makers of "Brotherhood of the Wolf" have not discovered it. In fact, the only thing that ultimately separates "Brotherhood" from its stateside brethren is that this film has the added cachet of subtitles in its favor. Moreover, the film dissolves into complete and utter confusion in its closing stretches, settling for one of those silly "secret cultic society" resolutions guaranteed to elicit snickers from a skeptical audience. "Brotherhood of the Wolf" displays a few bold stylistic flourishes, most notably in its use of anachronistic martial arts and kickboxing moves in many of its fight scenes (though they contribute to the unintentional humor of some of the later scenes in the film). It also does a nice job conveying the primitivism and superstition that defined this era, which, ironically, prided itself on being known as "The Age of Reason." The film has a very handsome look to it thanks to beautiful costume design, set decoration and cinematography. Unfortunately, the scary moments in the movie are few and far between, with the makers seemingly more interested in chatter and special effects than in generating any real thrills or tension. At an overlong two hours and twenty-four minutes, "Brotherhood of the Wolf" could definitely use some judicious trimming both in its early scenes involving some pointless romantic palaver between Fronsac and the beautiful Marianne de Morangias, and in its later scenes depicting the endless battles between predator, prey and the loony tune minions ultimately responsible for the beast's reign of terror. "Brotherhood of the Wolf" earns points for trying, but not for getting it right.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent!
Review: This has to be one of the most entertaining films I have ever seen. I almost seems like it is able to just draw you in. The fighting scenes are just breathe taking and there are great actors.(especialy Cassel) To be just frank with all of you this is my favorite film.
Rating:
Summary: Visually pleasing, but ultimately disappointing
Review: I must say that the title and the advertisments I saw beforehand are all very misleading as to the content of this movie. I watched the movie, expecting a werewolf flick and was utterly dissapointed. And if that is what you are expecting, you will be too. But forget for a moment that there is NO werewolf in the whole movie. Instead of starting with what the movie doesn't have, let's deal with what it has in it's favor. The movie is visually very pleasing, very lush. The scenery draws you in and creates a very tense, mysterious surrounding for the story. It is the surrounding scenery that sets the mood of the movie and creates the suspense as much as the story line. It is the scenery that makes you keep watching long after the plot has become hopelessly tangled. Some of the charcters are equally suspensful and mysterious. But unfortunately, while the costumes are beautiful and effective, the character development leaves much to be desired. While you do feel a certain concern for the lead characters, I really wish that they had developed them more. Especially the character of the prostitute (actually a spy for the Pope). This character could have had so much more done with it. But the real fault of this movie lies in it's story line. For one thing, there are too many characters to keep track of with any efficiency . And since they are not developed well, many of them become quite forgetable. Also the plot is just too convoluted to make any sense. It starts out ok - but as soon as you realize that the werewolf is actually a lion dressed in armor trained to kill by a member of a religous cult...well, all in all, a werewolf would have made more sense. I'm giving this movie three stars because, despite the plot going completely awry, this movie is so visually enthralling that you find yourself watching it anyway. You find yourself sitting in your chair thinking, "This plot makes no sense, but it's such a beautifully constructed setting -so eerie, so mornful, so mysterious - I've just got to see the rest of it."
Rating:
Summary: Great Action Film
Review: After watching this movie, I was hard-pressed to figure out the exact genre of the film...is it a great martial arts film?...well, yes it is...is it a historical costume epic?...well, yes it is also that...is it a philosophical, thought provoking film?...well, yes it is that to. On top of everything else, it is also a visually stunning,lovingly crafted film of great beauty and power. Take a step away from the usual, treat yourself to something completely different...check out this film!!!
Rating:
Summary: I agree with the "TURN OFF YOUR BRAIN" reviewer...
Review: Really, I liked this moive a lot. The French went for it with no barrels hold, aiming to produce a kind of Hollywoodian action thriller. And they did, including the always present abismal holes in the plot! Why the hell the bad guy, Jean François, a rich (and mad) aristocrat, sent the beast to kill young and innocent women in that region countryside? The only explanation I've got is that he did it to help him stand the pain of the forbidden love he felt for his sisteer, Marianne... Not a good explanation, maybe I got it all wrong... Also, the Indian sidekick, Mani, in two sequences seems to recognize, due to some old encounter along his life, the woman that were part of the bad guys group, an epiletic woman daughter of the guy who was the beast's "handler" man... But the woman is killed by the woman tha was sent by the Pope, and nothing between possible connection between her and Mani is revealed... Third, the bad guys, that apparently were a secret cult sponsered by the Pope and then wente berserk, apparently were made of two levels: one, guys from the elite: the priest, the mayor, etc. The other, a mob in the style of the Mad Max series villains !! Amazing. But the fight sequences are simply brathtaking, some of the best I've seen.
Rating: 
Summary: Werewolves, spies, Kung-Fu, assassins---& a killer hedgehog?
Review: Visually breathtaking and always intriguing, Christophe Gans's chimerical "Le Pacte des Loups" ("Brotherhood of the Wolf") hurls together a wild array of clashing cinematic genres: martial arts, political intrigue, 18th century costume-drama, comedy, philosophy, horror, and romance. Insanely, it works, and the result is a capricious, baroque, cinematically stunning and always engaging little film that defies expectations and easy categorization. The movie is loosely based on the events that supposedly took place in the remote French province of Gevaudan in 1764. According to accounts of the time, a monstrous and elusive wolf killed and partially devoured hundreds of French peasants, mostly women and children. Local hunters sought to kill the beast, to no avail; eventually a French regiment was dispatched by the king to bring order to the countryside, and some hapless wolf was shot and showed to the peasantry as the monster that had terrorized the countryside. The movie builds deliciously on this legend, following the investigation of the French naturalist and philosophe Chevalier de Fronsac and his Mohawk blood brother and companion Mani (deftly and athletically played by The Crow's Mark Dacascos). Fronsac (played by Samuel le Bihan)is swiftly ensnared in the countless intrigues of the treacherous province, and swiftly finds himself hunted---by both the Beast and a rogues' gallery of other sinister characters. Brotherhood is a visual treat, with stunning colors and a masterful use of setting to accent the film's gothic, broding, and occasionaly playful mood. From the infamous opening melee fight scene with kung-fu and bo-staves in the rain, to the smoky, exotic interior of a Gevaudan brothel, to the airless and baroque sitting rooms of the local nobility, Christophe Gans revels in the strangeness and opulence of a demon-haunted pre-Revolutionary France. Better still, Director Gans has mastered the most important rule of horror-filmmaking: that which is unseen is more terrifying than that which is seen too much. The scenes wherein the beast is barely seen are so eerie that it's almost a letdown when the most fearsome beast that ever slouched out of Jim Henson's muppet shop lurches from the shadows---almost. The acting is solid throughout, with le Bihan stoic and convincing as Fronsac, Vincent Cassels dastardly as a fanatic nobleman, and Dacascos kicking and thwapping evildoers with great alacrity; sadly, the windsome Emilie Dequienne is thrown away as the love interest. Horror film, period piece, 18th century spy story---who knows, and really, in the end, who cares? Brotherhood of the Wolf is a lavish two hours of glorious fun. Vive le Loup!
Rating:
Summary: A strange trip
Review: A French, martial-arts, period piece, political mystery, monster movie with some sex. Well, that certainly is straight forward. I would be disappointed if this movie didn't stir a wide range of responses. I really liked this movie. It was unlike anything I have seen before, albeit I am most assuredly NOT a movie scholar. Some parts of the movie were handled a bit clumsily, but overall it worked very well. As a French movie, the feel is very different than an American movie. The violence was more circumspect, fewer "bloody chunks", a bit more circumspect. While sex was much more overt. Also, the French political enviornment of 1764 is obsure or unknown to most Americans. This culture shift is both interesting and disorienting. I will watch this movie again; which is a uncommon situation. Is it perfect? No. But it is an amazing way to spend a couple of hours.
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