Kurtlar Vadisi: Gladio

Turkish T.V. director Sadullah Şentürk ("Kurtlar Vadisi") goes solo to wring a few more lira out of the burgeoning media franchise created by Osman Sınav with this cheap and cheerless action thriller, which succeeded in its aims of getting maximum return from minimum outlay by becoming the fifth highest grossing Turkish film of 2009 despite highly critical reviews.

When former intelligence agent İskender Büyük (Musa Uzunlar) finds himself in court charged with plotting a coup he calls upon attorney Ayşe (Ayfer Dönmez) to help him escape and track down the second man in the deep state organisation Gladio, who have been responsible for everything from the PKK terror campaign of Abdullah Öcalan to the assassination of President Turgut Özal.

Musa Uzunlar ("Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu") chews his way through the courtroom scenery, in a style which at times threatens to tear down the entire production around him, as the overblown all-action anti-hero, whilst a winsome Ayfer Dönmez looks on seemingly bewildered as his inexperienced court-appointed attorney turned spunky side-kick.

Tuğrul Çetiner provides a menacing presence as the controller Bülent Fuat Aras, replete with shaved head and stereotypical Gastapo-style lip, at the head of a supporting cast which includes nice turns from Mustafa Develi as Abdullah Öcalan, Sezai Aydın and Işıl Ertuna as Turgut and Semra Özal and the understated Sinan Pekinton as the judge.

The ever manipulative director once again plays to the strengths of the franchise by using current events, in this case the ongoing Ergenekon investigation, to draw audiences in to a crass little auctioneer crafted in the style of Bush-era Fox TV series "24" replete with all the prerequisite mock-heroics, and chest-thumping nationalism, only done cheaper.

"Well, I believed the state. You shouldn't"

Despite this having been released in theaters, Kurtlar Vadisi Gladio has the look and feel of a Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu episode. And just like with a typical episode, it runs for an hour and a half.

The main character here is Iskender Buyuk, the "villain" of the series. Polat, Memati and the rest of the gang are conspicuously absent. Unfortunately, they also left out a proper script. What you get is a glorified soap opera stuffed with "deep state" conspiracy theories based on the Gladio organization. None of the main characters are fleshed out, the action scenes are poorly edited and the "romance" between Iskender and Ayse is contrived and unnatural.

The only thing that made me watch it to the end and not turn it off, was Musa Uzunlar. Watching Uzunlar deliver those cheesy one liners in that husky voice is a great guilty pleasure.

I can't recommend this to anyone, other than Kurtlar Vadisi fans.

There is couple of stupid things stands out from this movie. First, screen writers HAVE NO IDEA WHAT GLADIO IS. Second, every unknown near past events which took place in Turkey was acted by only ONE MAN.

Movie is unwatchable; it is painful to see talented actors being wasted like that. Leading actor is not well known in Turkey and he should stay as an unknown actor. What's up with shouting?

There is no message in this movie other than "if you love your country it is OK to kill".

Waist of time. Typical Hollywood B movie.

Note to director: Educate yourself, and try to become a citizen of the world.

Despite the great performances from Musa Uzunlar and Sinan Pekinton, the storyline is pretty predictable and the movie is basically like an episode of the series Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu.

Many things are left in the air, connection lacks between the events of the storyline when you watch the movie itself only. Otherwise it serves as a bridge for the TV series which are still running in Turkey.

If you are following the series, a must see for sure to get the idea totally and not to miss anything from it. If not, don't even bother.

Can be entertaining though if you just want to spend time. I wouldn't consider this as a waste of time.