Synopsis
The French Connection was only the beginning. THIS IS THE CLIMAX.
"Popeye" Doyle travels to Marseilles to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler that eluded him in New York.
1975 Directed by John Frankenheimer
"Popeye" Doyle travels to Marseilles to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler that eluded him in New York.
Gene Hackman Fernando Rey Bernard Fresson Philippe Léotard Ed Lauter Charles Millot Jean-Pierre Castaldi Cathleen Nesbitt Samantha Llorens André Penvern Reine Prat Raoul Delfosse Ham-Chau Luong Jacques Dynam Malek Kateb Pierre Collet Alexandre Fabre Jean-Pierre Zola Manu Pluton Daniel Vérité Hal Needham Marie-Christine Descouard
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If you watch either of the French Connection movies and root for disgusting cretin 'Popeye' Doyle over smooth criminal Alain "Frog One" Charnier, then I don't know what to tell you. The fact that Popeye triumphs in this despite being the worst cop in America, and now the world, almost ruins the perfect ending of the original.
Even though it's Frankenheimer and there's some cool stuff, I'm docking this totally unnecessary movie for taking a very thin premise--Popeye goes to Marseilles and gets forcibly hooked on junk!--and stretching it way beyond the breaking point. Includes what seems like a ten minute scene of a dope sick Hackman crying and slurring his words as he remembers and lists baseball players he likes to a mute French detective.
"I'll knock your dick stiff."
What's great about this is that the relentless persistence of a man consumed by barely sublimated, crippling, sputtering rage is still justice.
It starts right off the open ending of the first and does manage to come up with some intense engaging moments, however the lean plot gets drawn out way too long, getting a bit tiring at times. Gene Hackman is solid yet again. A decent watch.
The French Connection II is another example of fantastic gritty 70’s filmmaking. John Frankenheimer took what could’ve easily been a quick cash grab of one of the best police dramas ever made, and instead created a solid sequel that manages to stand shoulder to shoulder with the original. The film sees the return of New York detective “Popeye” Jimmy Doyle (Gene Hackman) as he tracks down Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler who managed to slip away at the end of the previous film to Marseille.
Whilst the film certainly has a more melodramatic edge than its predecessor it still manages to stay relatively grounded in the style the first film set-up. John Frankenheimer retains all of the same visual rough…
Hardened veteran cop ‘Popeye’ Doyle (Gene Hackman) is sent to Marseilles to track down the notorious drug lord who previously evaded his capture, doing whatever it takes in a pursuit that leads him down dark avenues, in John Frankenheimer’s action thriller sequel with Fernando Rey and Bernard Fresson.
Unlike the first film, this isn’t based on a true story, instead shifting to a fish out of water angle for an approach that feels much more trope-heavy and yet at the same time far less focused than its predecessor. There are some great bursts of intensity that get sprinkled throughout, but like Frankenheimer’s later work on Black Sunday they’re weighed down by a lot of padding that hinders the pacing and…
Viewed as part of the Frankenheimer Fest with Nick Langdon and MushiMinion. Check out their reviews too!
There’s something utterly fascinating about the drug angle in this film, more importantly how the prized heroin of the first film becomes “the chase” of its sequel. The first French Connection breathed new life into the action genre, taking the iconic detective story and turning it as hard and as fast as possible into the physical obstacles of reality.
Born was the iconic chase sequence as limbs, bullets and bodies hit the pavement and clashed with the metal of the automobile. Where the original lives by its outward kineticism, the sequel is a latent examination of the self. The moral grayness we witness through Doyle and Russo’s…
John Frankenheimer's sequel to William Friedkin's widely heralded masterpiece The French Connection suffered from the usual drawbacks from sequels of any kind: usually designed to benefit financially from the public interest generated by the original, and often weaker for their attempt to recreate what their predecessors did without capturing the very aspects that encompassed their greatness.
Frankenheimer's film, while checking both of those marks in comparison with the first, manages to bring the story into a different direction and give an edge to Gene Hackman's character, a role that allowed the actor to really sink this teeth into meaty material this time. Drawing from a similar visual palette as the original, Frankenheimer recreates the style and aesthetic of Friedkin's film…
There's nothing quite like a good, gritty 70s crime movie. Part police procedural part character study, John Frankenheimer's sequel to the much acclaimed multiple Academy Award winner about Santa Clauses interested in weird foot massages in Poughkeepsie, French Connection II follows detective Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman) going after drug lord Alain Charnier, who returned to Marseille, France after the events of the first film.
The French Connection gave us one of the most intriguing and unpredictable characters in Popeye Doyle, an egomaniac who knew the ins and outs of underground New York and who happened to be a cop, a rather unorthodox one at that as well. Being a New York cop is really what keeps him together, so when…
Action | Crime | Drama
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle: I'll tell you what I found out. I found out that you eat shit, you fucking frog, you! You goddamn scumbag, you!
Not up to the standards of the original, but still quite good. Gene Hackman is once again oustanding as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle. And, I think the film missed the presence of Popeye's buddy from the first film, Roy Scheider as Cloudy.
• Story: 7/10
— Action: 7/10
— Crime: 8/10
— Drama: 7/10
• Sound: 7/10
• Acting: 8/10
• Pacing: 7/10
• Editing: 7/10
• Visuals: 7/10
• Writing: 7/10
• Dialogue: 7/10
• Directing: 7/10
• Ending Scene: 8/10
• Entertainment: 7/10
• Rewatch Value: 7/10
• Overall…
Hawaiin shirt Popeye Doyle is the best Popeye Doyle! Having put off watching this for years I was pleasantly surprised how good it actually was. It is very much it's own thing and ends up being a pretty underrated sequel to one of my favorite movies of the 1970's.
74/100
Not too surprising that I prefer this to the original, as I'm much more a Frankenheimer guy than a Friedkin guy. Still, it's an excitingly unorthodox sequel by just about anyone's reckoning.
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Gene Hackman can run, man. After about 10 minutes of French Connection II, I remembered how *great* he is. Endlessly watchable. Kevin Coster said in an interview a few years back that Hackman was the best actor he ever worked with. Unforgiven, Mississippi Burning, Crimson Tide, The Firm. Even Get Shorty, for crying out loud. The man’s got the X factor in spades.
Frankenheimer’s sequel doesn’t feel like one in the slightest, and that’s fine by me. Wasn’t a fan of Friedkin’s OG despite its glorious reputation; I suspect for those who were, French Connection II is an unsubtle disappointment. Super different in just about every regard, but I respect the all-out bold turn of dumping the formidable Popeye Doyle…