Empire

 Empire

Total Grade: 67

Plot: 10

Originality: 6

Acting: 9

Genre: 6

Entertaining: 10

Directing: 10

Script/Dialogue: 10

Misc: 6

Plot: Victor Rosa wants to leave his Hispanic mob and become a legitimate business man.  Empire tells the story of the rise of Victor Rosa until he becomes a legitimate businessman.

Originality:  Empire is basically a mobster movie, but instead of seeing the inner workings of the mob we get a mob boss who wants out.  How will he fit into the new world he is entering an how will his old mobster friends look at him now that he is out of the business.  Will he be able to survive at being legit?  

Acting: The acting in the movie is decent enough and never detracts from the movie.  John Leguizamo never really  carries the movie to me and he is not as good looking as they try to make him out to be.  Denise Richards is not as good of an actress as I thought at one time she could be.  I realize she is not Meryl Streep, but I thought she might be able to be believable:  I was wrong.  Everyone else serves the purpose but never really stands out.  

Genre: This movie is alright to watch once, but it does not stand out against movies in its genre.  It is not on the level of a Goodfellows or The Godfather.  

Entertaining:  Empire is entertaining enough to watch one time.  I don't think one would get much out of watching it twice unless you really like mob movies, are a fan of one of the actors or it just struck a cord with you.  It is sort of predictable at times as I was able to guess everything that was going to happen next.

Directing: Franc Reyes is a first time director and he does an okay job.  I've seen a lot worse on someone's first film, with that said the movie is lacking quite a bit.  Colors are off, the pace is not consistent and there are many plot holes. I'd give it a C for a first timer but an F for an accomplished director.  

Script/Dialogue: The script has many holes.  This causes the viewer to suspend disbelief in many cases, which is fine in some movies, but this is meant to be a more realistic movie.  The dialogue, at least to me, seems to flow with the movie and it allows the characters to react in a semi realistic manner.  The story itself is interesting enough, the execution though is bland and predictable. 

Misc: A decent effort for a first time director.

Final Comment: Empire is a decent mob movie, but fails to provide anything of substance.  Everything about it is pretty average, but that does not mean it won't touch some people.  There are some good lines in the movie and some interesting characters, but it just breaks down into a formula and becomes way too predictable.  It could have been more if it was in more competent hands, sadly it was not.  A good first effort, but not good enough to save the movie.

DVD Features: The special features are sparse as we get a making of feature, feature commentary, deleted scenes, scenes from the premiere in LA (this is cool!) and other things.  I did not spend a lot of time with it and I was not crazy about the movie.  There are some neat things here, but nothing ground breaking (although more DVD's should include scenes from the premiere. 

12-16-03