The French Are Taking Over, Part Deux

The Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le pacts des loups - 2001)

When I made my comments about French movies, I completely forgot about this kickass action movie. This is one of the best action movies to come out in the last decade. There is an actor in this movie, Mark Dacascos, who did an America action movie with DMX that I went to see, knowing it would be terrible, just because he was in it and I wanted to see his martial arts scenes. And you know what? It was worth it. He's just that good.

I love good action movies. I am a sucker for ones that feature slow-motion, Matrix-like special effects. The fight scenes in this movie are a blast to watch, especially since it's obvious that Brotherhood of the Wolf's director is well aware how awesome the action scenes are in this movie, both in pure fighting talent, and in cinematography. He clearly enjoyed making these scenes as much as I enjoyed watching them.

Set in France around the time the royalty were being taking to the guillotine, this movie features a mysterious, vicious monster that has been killing people indiscriminately. All who see it describe it as a giant wolf-like creature. A massive hunt is organized to track it and kill it. Hunters come from all around the countryside to join in. Also along for the ride is a naturalist (who shows surprising skill with weapons) who wants to document the forensic evidence. He is accompanied by his Iroquois sidekick, a man you so don't want to mess with; he provides the best fight scenes in the movie.

This movie has a lot more going for it than just the top notch fight scenes, which is why it is so good.For one, it is an absolutely beautiful movie, and not just because it contains some of the most kickass fight scenes ever. The cinematography is gorgeous, the colors are vivid, and the countryside looks breathtaking. It's also a funny movie, full of bawdy humor. The French do not portray whore houses as seedy and icky like Americans do. The plot is more interesting than I expected as well, which is a good thing since there aren't too many fight scenes. The only real problem with this movie is that it has a few slow parts. The first half is much more lighthearted than the second half, and the transition to that is not handled well.

Overall, if you're looking for a cool movie with great fight scenes, you can't go wrong with this.