It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

for not a real precise reason. only for the high science to give an almost perfect film. at each level. cinematography, performances - the admirable job of Jean Reno- the location, cultural references, the pieces of puzzle,the useful exploration of the idea of university elite. short, a perfect circle. after its end - a state. unique. and useful.

I'm not a fan of French movies as a rule, especially over-rated "horror" or thriller flicks - I find them either excruciatingly slow & boring (eg Vanished) or gratuitously violent with no decent plot or common sense - just violent for the sake of it and often with ridiculous tacked on "plot twists" in an effort to appear "clever"(eg Haute Tension). But this one really grabbed me. I'm glad I gave it a chance despite it's "Frenchness". Sure it has some problems towards the end some of which I understand are due to the difficulties of adapting the novel to screen, but I had no problem understanding what was going on. I loved the relationship between the two leads & the interesting way two story lines intersected. The direction & camera work was top notch, great soundtrack that enhanced the atmosphere and terrific acting from the cast. The plot was great too and pretty much everything worked the way it should. It needed a bit more fleshing out & explanation but it's not too obtuse without it. Just feels unfinished.It's a shame the ending is a bit of a let down but it doesn't detract from the movie overall - it's still well worth watching. It just brings it down a few points from what could have been a top rating flick. This is well worth watching for people who enjoy a good thriller, can stand a little gruesomeness but are not interested in pointless slasher movies or self-congratulatory plodding "mysteries". If you can handle the level of "gore" in say Criminal Minds or Silence of the Lambs you should be OK with this one.

This film that starts out grabbing you ends out leaving you feel dazed and confused. The dead body found of a young men, horribly tortured and left to die slowly, is the reason d'entrance of Jean Reno. Answering a local investigators question "where the unit to investigate" is with a stoic "I am the unit", you feel you're in for something good. And that's pretty much what you get. A hunt for a killer, slowly paced giving Reno all the chance to shine, which he does, leading you from clue to clue. Not a groundbreaking concept but the beautiful and meticulously filmed scenery quite makes up for that. Then a typical book-like twist is made introducing what appears to be another main character: Vincent Cassel. His investigation into the desecration of a tomb seems to lead him to Reno's dead bodies. So far so good until, out of the blue, the writers feel the need to make Cassel go Chuck Norris on some wannabe Nazis's in a fight scene so absurdly bad, including 1980's sound effects, it makes you question what kind of movie you're actually watching. Or what movie the makers want you to watch. Unfortunately, it's all downhill from here. As if the over the top action scene with the Goring 2.0's wasn't enough, a whole lot more of Action Jackson is released upon the viewer as the more and more unlikely plot is revealed quite fast in contrast to the beginning of the movie. After the interesting fight the movie goes for two awards in the weird category with an even so interesting foot-chase ending up in the middle of anti-climax land leading right to a totally uncalled for Mexican stand- off between Jean "The Unit" Reno and his local constabularies. From here, the credit build up from the start of the movie has declined pretty much completely and the final revelation are met with a sincere "Huh. So that was what that was all about. Huh." Still, Jean Reno delivers which makes this film watchable.

Mathieu Kassovitz's "The Crimson Rivers" is one of the more watchable "Se7en" knock offs. A deliberately lurid and ridiculously fast moving serial killer/detective movie, the film finds a pair of mismatched detectives braving incessant rain, snow, thunder storms and dark shadows to catch various gruesome villains.The film lays the style, atmosphere and mood on thick, features actors Vincent Cassel and Jean Reno as super-cool scenery chewing cops, knows how to milk suspense, silence, anticipation and horror, features a very good foot chase, some very good camera work, and is stylish without being too tacky. The character Reno plays channels Morgan Freeman's character in "Se7en", whilst Cassel channels Brad Pitt's. The film also cribs the better bits from "Silence of the Lambs", "Jennifer 8" and "Manhunter" - all good genre films - but because this whole "gothic police detective" (which originated with Edgar Alen Poe, father of the detective story) genre spins around archetypes, familiarity, mood and the cosy embrace of convention, you don't care. For more radical fare within this genre, seek out Bruno Dumont's "L'humanité", or perhaps "The Wire".The film's plot – some business about Nazi super soldiers - recalls both "The Boys From Brazil" and "Name of the Rose", only faster, harder and with more rain. The film climaxes with a dumb car chase, a dumb showdown, and then an even dumber CGI avalanche. Some of its camera work is inspired by both De Palma and Kubrick. Unlike "Se7en" copycats like "Kiss The Girls" and "The Bone Collector", "The Crimson Rivers" goes for a more operatic, more voluptuous, more shamelessly lurid, more deliberately macabre tone. It's what "Scorsese" recently tried and failed to do with "Shutter Island" (and earlier, "Cape Fear").If this review plays like a string of references, its because "The Crimson Rivers", a postmodern collage, is itself all about references and ticked boxes. 7.9/10 – Good popcorn. See "Jeniffer 8", "Silence of the Lambs", "Memories of Murder", "Mother", "Manhunter" and "Se7en".