Brotherhood of the Wolf (Christophe Gans, 2001)
I naively assumed that the Matrix-inspired speed-manipulated action shots featured in the trailer of this howler were just the product of said trailer. Wrong. This French horror/martial arts/adventure/romance/costume drama/social tract isn’t afraid to crank all of its genres up to eleven, and it’s largely successful at being even more crass and laboriously “spectacular” than anything found in Hollywood. It’s utterly ridiculous and yet completely straight faced–which makes it sound like a lot more fun than it actually is. At 147 minutes, it’s way too long, for one thing–you have to wade through 20 minutes of inconsequential sludge for every decent bit. It’s not without its charms, but at its worst it’s cinema as assault: I suppose the fact that its head-rattling sound effects nearly drove me out of the theater would be worn by its producers as a badge of honor. B-
