This is basically on the same lines as the two CRIMON RIVERS thrillers, also starring Jean Reno; the muddled narrative involves two separate plot lines (a young cop on the trail of a serial killer and the tribulations of a woman apparently suffering from memory loss) which gradually intermingle. The title necessitates a few misleading 'horror' images relating to the girl's disorientation (especially since it all boils down to revolve around a drug-trafficking organization, with Paris and Istanbul for backdrops!); Reno is an iconoclastic ex-cop to whom the rookie turns for advice, but who is driven to distraction by his violent ways! Though action-packed, the film is more intriguing for its thematic pretensions: the heroine discovers that she has had her features altered, eventually reverting from bourgeois housewife to her true self – a Turkish immigrant with connections to the underworld, finding herself therefore suddenly resourceful enough to outwit or otherwise deal with her pursuers! Her 'husband' is revealed to be among them, but also Reno (actually a double agent), as well as a man she seemed to be familiar with but could not quite place; the latter, in fact, turns out to be the serial killer eluding the Police, driven towards recreating the anguished expression of a statue through his crimes (and with the woman herself being next in line)! A mildly interesting and enjoyable film, then, especially during its first half (if not especially memorable or rewarding) but, apart from feeling decidedly overlong at 128 minutes, its latter stages unfortunately turn into just another action movie.
Review of Empire of the Wolves
