Excellent, a Must See

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

... it is the lead and the most important motif for I love this film. all the rules of Gothic novel. the impecable acting. the splendid story. the embrodery of mistery, seduction and values of a lost time. Paris of the middle of XIX century. and Gerard Depardieu in his best form. short, one of films like a great travel across time, spaces, significances, looking the truth in special manner, with special toools, out of ordinary rules of genre. maybe, an old fashion film. and that is more than a good point. but one of great things defining refuge in authentic art of cinema and its basic purpose.

The real-life title character of this one, a criminal-turned-Police Commissioner, was featured in many a film and TV series over the years; so, it was small wonder to see him make a re-appearance – or, more appropriately, receive a facelift – in the new millennium. With this in mind, as has become the norm in the modern revivification of such crusaders as Van Helsing and Sherlock Holmes (actually inspired by Vidocq!), he is turned into some kind of action hero; in fact, the very first scene finds him fighting it out with (and being apparently dispatched by) a mysterious and all-powerful villain – which, played by Gerard Depardieu (not so young anymore and, worse, overweight), obviously makes it a somewhat unwise decision in this case! However, the real trouble concerns the film's concluding twist: unfortunately, this follows the trend which has annoyingly been picked up far too often of late (as recent as SHUTTER ISLAND [2010]) where the plot has basically been turned on its head by the end!; my major pet peeve with this is that whole sections of the film are bound to make no sense afterward: for instance, here, a character is seen grilling another one for information (with nobody else present) when, ultimately, we realize he had all the answers already (being himself the mastermind behind all the mayhem) – WTF?! Mind you, VIDOCQ is entertaining along the way and certainly stylishly handled: thankfully, there was no attempt to update the 'myth' to our times – still, the film-makers found a way of going around this conundrum by applying to it all the new-fangled technology (including shooting in DV) in order to please the masses! When all is said and done, the most pleasing elements of the piece are those relating to fantasy/poetry (the conjuring abilities of the villain, whose face is hidden behind a mirror-mask) and which were clearly borrowed from the oeuvre of Georges Franju (with the latter's frequent leading lady Edith Scob even being allotted a small role here!).

I saw this a few years back when it hit the cinema in France and thought that overall it was not a bad attempt at a Gothic horror/thriller (a genre I like). Initially I found the digital footage a little off putting but settled into the "look" eventually and ended up really liking it. So, OK, it's not high art French cinema but surely that's not a reason to dislike it? I have to say I was surprised to find so many reviews here because I heard nothing of this movie after the French release, which surprised me (especially as that movie Brotherhood of the Wolf was doing the rounds, which I thought was a pile of s**t in comparison). Also, 28 Days Later appeared not long after this, touting a similar digital look (but i thought that movie seriously sucked also). In conclusion, if, like me, you disliked the movies mentioned, maybe you will like Vidocq. I think, that in time, it will possibly gain cult status . What do you think?

I thought that this movie could be very different from over the top American movies because it's french. Well i was a bit disappointed, because it's just too much over the top. The special effects are twice as beautiful than in American movies, this movie is just painting or an art in its own. Every scene is like an advertisement in television, and visually very intense and demanding to follow. Colours are vivid and they create a certain atmosphere.But what this movie succeeds in the visual side, it lacks in the deepness and in the story. The characters seem too shallow, the dialogue is very superficial from time to time. However when you adjust to the movie's different approach you can get a hold of it.I'm pretty puzzled over the fact that this movie has unnecessary action scenes. Really! It'd been more efficient if the bad guy with the mask had had a discussion with Vidocq than unrealistic fighting which we viewers are very accustomed to. Of course there should be fights, but this movie tries to be in the horror and action genre and it's just too lame because it'd been done too many times before.It's so much harder to make good and impressive dialogues between the bad guy and the hero than just generic fighting with special effects.This movie clearly isn't a horror movie, it's fantasy and thriller.I enjoyed this movie because of it's new approach to the visual side, it looks like a computer game. It's a pretty good and impressive movie if you don't analyze it all the time. "Plenty of cakes are beautiful from the surface.", i just can't avoid the feeling that this movie is just way too shallow.