FilmBlather.com

Once in a while, Hollywood adapts movies from comic books, usually superhero flicks that wind up eliciting disdain from fans of the source material. Brotherhood of the Wolf is the kind of movie that could inspire a comic book. Actually, that might not be a bad idea; in frames and on paper, this long, unwieldy mess has a chance of being more coherent than it is in movie form. Director Christophe Gans here joins Oliver Stone in the quest to make the most boring movie with the most camera tricks humanly possible, and though it looks good, at least up until the Monster shows up, it's unwatchable.

The film purports to tell the story of the beast that terrorized the French region of Gevaudan in the mid-18th century. It begins with the arrival of Gregoire de Fransac (Samuel Le Bihan), a biologist, and his faithful Native American friend/personal martial artist Mani, into the region as an envoy from the crown. Their plan is to debunk the supernatural rumors flying around the countryside and capture the animal. Of course, the local officials think that they have everything figured out, and think that the high-and-mighty newcomers are merely interfering.

Of course, everyone is in for more than he bargained for, as the two travelers uncover a web of historical intrigue stretching from the French monarchy to the Catholic church. When we finally see the Beast and learn of its nature, however, it is a gigantic letdown, one of the lamest CGI creatures to ever mar the screen. It just looks goofy, and not at all menacing; considering how technically proficient (if nothing else) the rest of the film is, the shoddy appearance of its central figure is an unpleasant surprise.

To conceive how Brotherhood of the Wolf plays, imagine a very French version of Run Lola Run. It has the same editorial pyrotechnics as the popular hyperactive German thriller, but it is also almost twice as long and filled with nonsensical plot complications that I didn't care to understand. It's violent, often gruesome, but not much fun, as every action scene has a ponderous pseudo-gravity; it's too silly to be taken seriously, and it plays all the material 100% straight as a joke on the audience.

Mani is played by Mark Dacascos, an aging American B-movie martial artist from movies like Only the Strong and Kickboxer 5. He is fun to watch in the beginning, when the fight scenes aren't outshadowed by whatever "plot" the film claims to have. The climax, though, focuses more on Fransac, who winds up going nuts and doing the Tarzan thing in front of a dumbfounded audience of unassuming moviegoers. It all makes less and less sense as it goes along.

Brotherhood of the Wolf was, apparently, a major box-office sensation in French. I suppose the French aren't used to seeing this sort of movie out of their own country; this isn't exactly the kind of thing French cinema is notorious for. I'm not sure who would like it. There are some neat visual tricks, but I tired of them after about twenty minutes, which was also about the time the worthy martial-arts scenes magically disappeared in favor of mythical mumbo-jumbo. Do not be fooled by the advertising. This isn't the epic adventure it thinks it is.