Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Taraparain
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
Teddie Blake
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
FlashCallahan
Three bank robbers and their two hostages, a comely lingerie saleswoman. whom apparently is on her honeymoon, and an anxious father, desperate to get his daughter to the hospital, careen through a surreal car ride that is leading to nowhere.Having not seen the original by Mario Bava, rabid dogs appears just to be another kidnap that will end with protagonists and antagonists going through Helsinki syndrome, and then the crooks turning on each other.....usually in the name of love.But the maguffin here is that the father, played wonderfully by Lambert Wilson, is on a race against time to get his daughter to the hospital because a chance for a kidney transplant has become available and he only has a matter of hours before it will be rejected.And this is what makes the film so fascinating, Not only does the father have to contest with the fact that his daughter may not make it, but also he has to contend with the three crooks, who couldn't give a hoot about him or his goals....not to begin with anyway.Unfortunately though, the rest of the characters are not very well fleshed out. The criminals, who first appear to be as scared as their captives once their 'boss' is killed, end up nothing more than your archetypal criminals who have the same traits as many a criminal depicted in crime movies.You have the quiet one, the wild one who has an eye for the ladies, and then the ultimate in stereotypes, the criminal who appears to be reasoning with the captives, but ends up being just as bad as all the others.Ledoyen also, adds nothing to the film, other than to hold the child in the back of the car. There is a little of her backstory, but she literally gets left in the back seat for the majority of the film. The film wouldn't have changed at all if her character wasn't part of the narrative, but then the wild criminal wouldn't be wild if she wasn't part of the film.It's visually stunning, especially the final third, when it appears that the group have wandered on to the set of a John Carpenter film, it's full of weird and wonderful characters, celebrating some sort of religious myth.But what makes the film stand out from other crime films, other than its psychedelic visuals, is the final three minutes of the film. Just when you think it's ended with a predictable whimper, it gives you a huge slap in the face, and its amazing.Imagine from Dusk til Dawn doing it's genre change with three minutes to go.....it's as surprising as that.It has it's flaws, the second act is a little saggy, and the criminal element of the film is stereotypical on the verge of bland, but for the final three minutes, it's really worth seeing.
Coventry
Like most horror/cult cinema fanatics, I don't like remakes. So when I heard there was going to be remake of one of the greatest movies of my all-time favorite director, I knew from beforehand that I would be even more skeptical than usually the case with remakes. "Cani Arrabbiati", a.k.a "Rabid Dogs" or "Kidnapped", was an ambitious Poliziotteschi/Euro-Crime project by the almighty Italian director Mario Bava (the most genius director who ever lived) and his son Lamberto in 1974, but due to legal issues and production company bankruptcies, the film sadly only got finished in 1997 long after Mario's death and the career peaks of Lamberto. Still, in spite of the juridical issues, it was one of the absolute highlights in its kind. I watched the remake (original French title: "Enragés") at the Brussels International Film Festival and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Although by no means an exceptional or astounding film, but nevertheless a solid and compelling thriller with a tense atmosphere from start to finish as well as intriguing characters, gritty action sequences and an exhilarating soundtrack. Sabri is the getaway driver of a violent bank heist, but their scheme goes awry almost straight from the beginning. Sabri, along with his three companions, must dump the conspicuous getaway car and blend into the crowds of a shopping mall. But their leader is badly hurt and the blood trail that he leaves behind puts all the city's police forces back on their tail. While the number of casualties disturbingly mounts, the gangsters take an attractive woman hostage and run back out into the streets. They stop another vehicle, an inconspicuous old grey Volvo, which also give them two more hostages; a father who was on his way to the hospital with his unconscious 4-year-old daughter for a lifesaving kidney transplant. This is still only just the beginning of a very long, intense and nightmarish journey with numerous obstacles, deadly confrontations and unforeseen surprises. Although the trio of fugitive hoodlums succeeds fairly well in coming across as cruel and menacing (particularly Vincent played by François Arnaud) they honestly aren't even half as nihilistic, loathsome and vile as the thugs in Bava's original. Compared to Blade or Thirty-Two of the 1974 film, these guys are merely rabid puppies instead of dogs and thus also the overall tone of "Enragés" is less unsettling due to this. The violence is quite explicit but not too shocking, and only a couple of scenes are truly memorable, like the stop at the gas station or the showdown during the feast of the bear town-festival. The climax, however, is very well-handled and in case you're not familiar with the story you definitely will be dumbfounded, as there's no way anyone could predict this type of plot-twist. The acting performances are more than adequate, with respectable roles for Lambert Wilson and the still extremely attractive Virginie Ledoyen as the hostages, but my personal favorite aspect of "Enragés" was undoubtedly the soundtrack. The eerie and tense tunes are often reminiscent of a Goblin or giallo soundtrack, and near the end there's also a beautiful choir version of Radiohead legendary song "Creep" (which, I think, was also used in "The Social Network")
kosmasp
Now I haven't seen the "original" (1974, title can be found here on IMDb), but I did quite like the movie they made here. It kind of works , even if of course some characters could've "acted" differently for a different outcome .. but what fun would that have been? Also it does all make sense in a weird ... sense.The acting is more than decent and the suspense is pretty good, and might be able to keep you on the edge of your seat. You do want to know where this is going. The end might be a deal breaker for some (or rather the resolution in general), but it was fitting to the movie and how it developed ... Since I haven't seen the original, which people seem to really like (and where the characters worked better, especially one that is really crucial), I can't comment on that other than to say that it does feel a bit cheap and bland. You can still have fun with it, especially if you're unaware of the other movie I reckon
GUENOT PHILIPPE
You have to know that this movie is a sort of remake of Mario Bava's Carri Arrabiatti, shot in 1974, where Ricardo Cucciola had the same character played here by Lambert Wilson. He is a common driver and father of a little girl who is held as hostage by a group of brutal hoodlums. And a female innocent bystander is also involved in the scheme. Well, it is a B movie, a noir, brutal and typical of what the french movie industry may try from time to time since several years now. The peak of this film is the end, which is Alfred Hitchcock Presents's ending like. A really pure twist ending. It jumps in your face. Literally. Only the end is really worth. But maybe I am a little too hard with this film. For a first feature - I presume - it's a good try. And I was also glad to see Virginie Ledoyen, after such a long time.
