Dobermann

"Dobermann", effectively, is a movie with no live characters in it. Not one.

What it does have is walking cartoons. Two-dimensional and blatantly unbelievable ones (e.g the psycho preacher, straight out of a 60'ies spaghetti-western). That, and bloody mayhem!

The set-pieces, (a bank-robbery, a shoot-em-up in a nightclub and the final car-chase) are excellent for those who like their action-movies splattered with gore and a loud techno-track. Beware, though, there are stretches of boredom in between. Of special note is the grossly unpleasant scene where Christini tortures "Sonia"'s family. It includes a baby being thrown across the room, and later being given a hand-grenade as a toy. This didn't endear "Dobermann" to the Norwegian critics! It was not shown in Oslo as a result of the regional cinema-director considering the movie devoid of interest and much, much too violent.

Which it is.

Crazy and fun and psychotic. Jan Kounen's high-octane Dobermann is a graphic novel come to life. Expertly directed, shot and acted. Every character is pretty much certifiable, and they exist in a world that is truly bats**t crazy.

Anarchic, and freaking excellent.

Starting off with a slow scene at the baptism of Dobermann, whos real name is Yann, it then takes you on a action-trip to hell - and never back!

The first 30 minutes of the film have super-cool editing, but then the story gets overhand (which is good) and the shooting starts to slow down... When the bank-robbing-action is at it's best, the suspense and high-quality filming really is unique. At the final scene the shoot-out is grotesqly well done and can only be compared to early John Woo-Hong Kong flicks... Nothing made in the US can compare to this truly adorable movie. Maybe KILLING ZOE may compare in violence, but not in acting...

The scene when Yann and his girlfriend is talking with sign-language only is one of the best scenes in this movie - even though it has no action, no words and only a humming noice...

Nice movie that should be seen only by those who can stand grim action that looks real. It's a hard movie to watch for some people, but it has great qualities, very nice filming and spectacular direction and editing! Watch out for some nice laughs as well... if you have that sick dark kind of humor, that is... :-)

9 out of 10!

Stylish, violent French thriller about some thoroughly unlikeable lowlife and the equally despicable policemen on their trail. In places, this film is original, funny and genuinely shocking, but there's not really enough here to offset the gun fetish.

Dobermann is one of the best 'live action comic books' ever made, IMO. The characters, the cinematography, the dialogue and the violence all have the comic book 'feel' - ultra-stylised and larger than life, and full of very black humour.

The movie is basically a heist movie, with Dobermann himself (Vince Cassell) and his band of unlikely partners plotting a robbery, and pulling it off... but getting bad-ass cop Cristini (Tcheky Karyo) on their tale for their troubles.

The movie is exceptionally well done - clearly a lot of love went into it from director Jan Kounen and from the cast. Some of the camera work is utterly unique and stunning, and the performances all round are excellent. Tcheky Karyo is particularly memorable - his role in KISS OF THE DRAGON was basically his DOBERMANN character watered down to about 1%. Dobermann himself is perhaps the least well developed character, remaining pretty detached and enigmatic throughout.

There's lots of sharp dialogue and bits of absurdity that will obviously draw comparisons to Tarantino. This all leads to some action setpieces that are very very nicely done, including a stunning and extended climax.

This is the 3rd time I've watched the movie, and I enjoy it more each time. Watched it at work last night with a pretty large group, and couldn't help wondering if it was a movie that showed cultural differences between the US and Europe. The Europeans & even a Canadian in the room were sat grinning from ear to ear from start to finish, all loving it... but the Americans in the room just didn't seem to 'get it' at all. They all seemed to be taking it much too seriously, and struggling terribly with the idea of an "anti-hero". The fact that Dobermann has killed an innocent man before he speaks his first line of dialogue seemed to give them trouble. Perhaps this is a European thing, along with the black humour. The difference in response between the Americans and the rest really was noticable.

But, perhaps it's just a coincidence - and some people from any country are always going to miss the point on these things. If you like your heroes dirty, your characters about 3 times larger than life, your camera restless, your dialogue cynical and vicious and your violence explosive... then Dobermann is a wonderful movie you should definitely track down.