Just saw brotherhood of the wolf and I loved it!

[uv23]

No spoilers here, since the movie is so rich and unique. Suffice it to say its like D&D in France. I went in a bit weary of some of the kung fu antics I had heard all about but it was very well done. I saw it in a new theater with excellent sound and I recommend you do the same as the audio is incredibly sharp and contributes to the atmosphere and suspense. Cheers.

 

[Schmoe]

I agree, this is far and away one of the best done movies I've seen in the last year (12 months). My wife and I both came out of the theater thinking "Wow, what a cool story."

What did people dislike about it? You're the second person that has said people didn't really like it, but other than the subtitles, I don't really see what there is to dislike.

 

[number6]

Well, I guess I'll field this one. As an action/adventure movie it's fine. As anything else however, (and frankly from the french you expect more) it falls fairly flat. The main problem I had with the film is that the direction and editing lacked focus...the story kind of flailed around for quite a while... To pick on just one thing I think they over-used the slow-motion effect on non-fighting scenes. After awhile, it just appeared to be random, sort of a "lookie what we can do....slow-mo raindrops!" kinda thing.
I think mostly the effects and the way they were filmed (and edited) did nothing for the movie as a whole. Used correctly they could have heightened tension to an insane degree or made us feel more emotions for the characters, as it was it felt like all they added to the movie was a tremendous amount of eye candy.
Speaking just as a movie-goer (and not the insanely picky movie critic I normally am) it's a pretty entertaining movie, and something I could see renting to see if I missed anything...but it's not something I would ever buy a copy of. Your Mileage May Vary

 

[Scarab]

Well, I guess I'll field this one. As an action/adventure movie it's fine. As anything else however, (and frankly from the french you expect more) it falls fairly flat.

Hey, we Europeans can do braindead Hollywoodesque movies too!

 

[barsoomcore]

It was a very entertaining film and I highly recommend it for all fantasy fans.

That said, the fight scenes were as poorly done as I have come to expect from Western directors. Only "McG" (Charlie's Angels) really seems to GET Hong Kong action filming -- there were great fights in The Phantom Menace, and that opening fight in Blade was AWESOME, but by and large Western directors obviously can't match the visual stylistics of John Woo, Tsui Hark and Jackie Chan.

Brotherhood of the Wolf suffers the same way. Otherwise, it rocks and having seen it last fall, I'm definitely going again now that it's in general release. I hope they make a fortune on it.

 

[Shadowdancer]

I saw this movie over the weekend, and I have to disagree with the comment that the slo-mo was used too much in the non-fight sequences. I thought its repeated use was a nice touch, and gave the whole movie a unified style. If it was only used for the fights, that would have been more of a distraction, IMO.

As it was, all of the camera tricks gave the movie a surreal feeling that helped heighten the suspense. It kept you off balance, unsure of what was going to happen next. At one part, when the camera shot was the Beast's point of view, and it sped up unexpectedly as it moved through the underbrush, this one girl sitting near me screamed. It made everyone jump.

 

[Pangias]

as i already said on these board, i dislike this movie.

Acting is just so so. Even if the actors are usually fantastic. (Vincent Cassel is so great in others movie...:-( )
Story is not that good. It s based on a French Myth, unfortunately in the conversion it lost all the magic.
Fighting scene are boring. I like kung fu style when it s justified. Not in the way it is used in BOTW.
The indian guy is so ridiculous and "hors contexte".

In fact i would compare it to one of the last Sylvester Stallone or a Schwarzi Movie. A huge budget for a very so so result. Unfortunately this film (BOTW) involve the most talented person of France and i know by interview that all i dislike in this movie come from the director Christophe Gans.

If you enjoy it guys it s great. And i m happy to see a french film reach your market. But it s definitively a poor film and i feel sad to see that all we are able to share are our piece of crap.

 

[Wolfspider]

I thought it was an excellent movie on all counts. I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy it, Pangias. I thought that the plot was very interesting and that the fights were well done as well. In fact, it's my second favorite movie of 2001, right behind Fellowship.

 

[Pangias]

Maybe i was expecting too much. Vincent Cassel, Jean Yanne are so great actors, the legend of Gevaudan's beast is so exciting. Sometime you are disappointed simply because you were expecting something else.

But i m glad that you like it. I will remember 2001 for Amelie Poulain (Amelie from Montmartre i think), FOTR ,Requiem for a dream and Battle Royale. (1 French, 1 New Zealand ,1 US movie and 1 Japanese movie....)

 

[G.A. Donis]

Wolfspider, my thoughts exactly

I thought it was an excellent movie on all counts. I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy it, Pangias. I thought that the plot was very interesting and that the fights were well done as well. In fact, it's my second favorite movie of 2001, right behind Fellowship.