Christophe Gans' Brotherhood of the Wolf, a fictional account of the beast that terrorised Gévaudan, France in the 1700s, is a feast for the eyes from start to finish: whether it be a dark forest caught in a blizzard, a rain drenched, mud-caked smack-down, the lavish banquet hall of a stately home, a mutilated corpse in a pond, or the delights of a French brothel, every frame is a carefully composed, beautifully lit work of art.
Unfortunately, the film's narrative and pacing aren't quite as flawless as its visuals: the plot meanders aimlessly at times; at two and a half hours, the film is way too long for what is essentially a highly stylised slice of comic-book entertainment; and the flow of the film is not helped by frequent unnecessary use of slo-mo and freeze frame (Gans been watching too much John Woo?). The director also has a propensity to labour a point (seriously, how many pumpkins do I need to see explode before understanding that the characters are excellent marksmen).
Worse still, Gans seriously under-uses his greatest asset, martial artist Mark Dacascos, who plays an American Indian with Asian fighting skills (don't ask!); Dacascos's action scenes are so poorly pieced together that they lack any real impact (Samuel Le Biha's fight scenes are much better; his revenge driven rampage is particularly bad-ass, and he isn't trained in kung fu and karate).
Despite it's problems, however, I still rate The Brotherhood of the Wolf a reasonable 6/10—it's worth that for the marvellous cinematography alone, never mind the fact that it also stars the very lovely (and very naked) Monica Bellucci.
Unfortunately, the film's narrative and pacing aren't quite as flawless as its visuals: the plot meanders aimlessly at times; at two and a half hours, the film is way too long for what is essentially a highly stylised slice of comic-book entertainment; and the flow of the film is not helped by frequent unnecessary use of slo-mo and freeze frame (Gans been watching too much John Woo?). The director also has a propensity to labour a point (seriously, how many pumpkins do I need to see explode before understanding that the characters are excellent marksmen).
Worse still, Gans seriously under-uses his greatest asset, martial artist Mark Dacascos, who plays an American Indian with Asian fighting skills (don't ask!); Dacascos's action scenes are so poorly pieced together that they lack any real impact (Samuel Le Biha's fight scenes are much better; his revenge driven rampage is particularly bad-ass, and he isn't trained in kung fu and karate).
Despite it's problems, however, I still rate The Brotherhood of the Wolf a reasonable 6/10—it's worth that for the marvellous cinematography alone, never mind the fact that it also stars the very lovely (and very naked) Monica Bellucci.