Zachary FenellBrotherhood of the Wolf
February 18th 2009 19:32
Brotherhood of the Wolf, 2001
And then again, maybe they just had a neat idea while playing video games.
In Brotherhood of the Wolf, a pair of adventurers come to 18th century France to track, trap and kill a seemingly supernatural monster. Certainly, it's super-fast and super-strong, but what is it, really? We discover that our adventurers are really trappers back from the Americas, the blonde being a native Frenchman and the darker fellow is a Native Savage - and is treated as such, until it would please certain parties to treat him otherwise.
There were so many parts of this film that I adored. The imagery, parts of the story, and even the characterizations were just breathtaking. There were points when you really found yourself saying, "Did they just do that? Holy crap!"
And then... came the boss-monster.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love video games (or at least I'd better, since I work for a VG company as my "day-job"). I love the format, I love the style, but I hate being lied to. When I watched the last scenes in awe-struck horror (and not in a good way), I went back through my mind that realized... yeah. That was a frikkin' video game. The whole movie was really the script for a console game with a little big of RPG thrown in there. There were skill checks. The pacing of the battles with puzzles in between is standard. There was just so much that pointed to this model... and I would have never picked it out until the end when they really started getting absurd and decided, "Hey, whatever, we can't come up with anything better, might as well blow our cover."
I was crushed. Up to that point, it was such an interesting story. And then the writer tipped his hand, and ruined the surprise. Part of excellent magic is knowing that you never, ever give away your secrets, always leave them wondering, always leave something out... because being in on the trick takes away the joy. Seriously, that alone cost this movie at least a star and a half.
3 Stars
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